Carbon Footprint

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners What steps the Commissioners are taking to minimise their carbon footprint.

Stuart Bell: The Commissioners welcomed the General Synod report 'Sharing God's planet' which requested that church bodies improve their environmental achievements by 2008. Their main aims are to develop a new 'Green Guide' for parsonage building standards and improve our approach to sustainability in our land management plans.

Fund-raising

Hugh Bayley: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners What advice the Church Commissioners give to church bodies on raising funds through public appeals.

Stuart Bell: Guidance on fundraising for repairs and maintenance is available from the Council for the Care of Churches and its "churchcare" website (www.churchare.co.uk). It is hoped shortly to expand the site to include guidance on the wider use and development of church buildings.

Advice to Ministers/Permanent Secretaries

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in what month his Office expects to make an announcement on advice to Ministers and Permanent Secretaries.

Jim Murphy: This Government have done much to strengthen the system for handling of Ministers' financial interests, including the requirement to provide Permanent Secretaries with a list of their interests on appointment to each new office and the facility to seek external advice if needed. Careful consideration is being given to the recommendation by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and an announcement will be made in due course.

Civil Servants

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants worked from home for at least one day a week in the last year for which figures are available.

Jim Murphy: The Cabinet Office does not centrally monitor the number of staff who work from home. However, within the newly launched 10 point plan "Delivering a Diverse Civil Service" there is senior leadership commitment to work life balance and all senior civil service (SCS) and feeder grade posts should be available on a flexible working pattern basis unless robust and objective justification is provided.

Agency Staff

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which he has responsibility in 2004–05 in (a) total and (b) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (c) London.

Karen Buck: Total Executive NDPB staff numbers by Departments at 31 March 2005 are recorded in table 2 of Public Bodies 2005, a copy of which is in the House Libraries and which is available online at: http://www. civilservice.gov.uk/the_future_of_the_civil_service/agencies_and_public_bodies/publications/pdf/public bodies/publicbodies2005.pdf.
	The Department does not hold NDPB data broken down by region of the UK.
	The number of staff in individual Executive agencies as at 1 April 2004, including a regional analysis, is available in Civil Service Statistics 2004 which was published in February 2005, a copy of which is in House Libraries. It is also available online at: http://www. civilservice.gov.uk/management_of_the_civil_service/statistics/contents_for_civil_service_statistics_2004_ report/number_of_civil_servants/index.asp.

Air Bags (Motor Vehicles)

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department collects statistics on the number of car accidents where safety air bags are inflated.

Stephen Ladyman: Statistics are not collected on the number of injury car accidents where safety airbags are inflated.
	The Department funds the co-operative crash injury study (CCIS) to investigate why car occupants are injured in traffic collisions and to use this information to design countermeasures to reduce the number of casualties in the future. CCIS is an in-depth study that involves specialist teams examining over 1,300 cars per year after they have been involved in police reported injury crashes and correlating the injuries suffered by the vehicle occupants to their causes. The vehicle investigation involves a thorough evaluation of all the cars' safety features, including seat belts and airbag systems. The effectiveness of the airbags once they have deployed is evaluated through this work. CCIS is a representative sample of all the car occupant injury crashes that occur in Great Britain and can be used to predict the number of airbags that are inflated or deployed per year in such accidents. Non-injury crashes where airbags deploy are not routinely investigated.

Air Passengers

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers arrived by air to the UK from (a) Vietnam, (b) Laos, (c) Cambodia, (d) Burma, (e) Thailand and (f) Indonesia in each of the last five years.

Karen Buck: The following table shows estimated number of passengers arrived by air to the UK from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia in each of the last five years. Reliable data for Laos, Cambodia and Burma are not available but are likely to be less than 15,000 per year.
	
		The International Passenger Survey (IPS). Number of arrivals in the UK by country of overseas airport used Thousand
		
			  Vietnam Thailand Indonesia 
		
		
			 2000 21 410 85 
			 2001 17 420 77 
			 2002 19 463 63 
			 2003 17 443 30 
			 2004 17 532 38

Airport Expansion (Northamptonshire)

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of expansion of airport capacity in Northamptonshire.

Karen Buck: The "Future Air Transport" White Paper published in December 2003 sets out a 30-year strategic framework for the development of airport capacity in the UK. The preceding studies and consultations led us to conclude that while a number of airports in the Midlands and the South East serve the Northamptonshire market, there is little demand for a commercial airport located within the county. There is however, nothing to prevent proposals for such an airport being brought forward for consideration through the planning system.

Aviation Pollution

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what economic modelling he has undertaken of the impact of (a) different oil prices, (b) emissions trading, (c) an emissions charge and (d) an increase in air passenger duty on the growth of aviation greenhouse gas emissions.

Karen Buck: Our forecasts for aviation and climate change, and the assumptions underlying them, are set out in "Aviation and Global Warming", published by the Department for Transport in January 2004. The "best case" scenario emissions forecasts assumed the introduction of economic instruments to tackle climate change, resulting in improved fuel efficiency. We have not undertaken analysis to consider these specific scenarios.

Bus Services

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people the bus network is capable of transporting at any one time.

Karen Buck: Information is not available in the form requested. However, details of the bus and coach stock by size of vehicle are given in annex A table 8 of the "Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2005 Edition", a copy of which is placed in the House of Commons Library.

Bus Services

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers were carried by the bus industry in each year since 1997.

Karen Buck: Information about bus passenger journeys can be obtained from Table C of the "Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2005 Edition", a copy of which is placed in the House of Commons Library.

Bus Services

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of (a) new and (b) second-hand buses purchased in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of new buses purchased in the UK in each year since 1997.

Karen Buck: Information about the number of buses registered for the first time can be obtained from Table 12 of the "Vehicle Licensing Statistics: 2004", a copy of which is placed in the House of Commons Library. There is no information available for purchases or changes of registration for second-hand buses.

Bus Services

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were employed by the bus industry in each year since 1997.

Karen Buck: Information about staff numbers in the bus industry can be obtained from Annex A Table 6 of the "Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2005 Edition", a copy of which is placed in the House of Commons Library.

Bus Services

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pensioners in (a) Worcestershire, (b) Redditch and (c) Worcester will qualify for free off-peak local bus travel.

Karen Buck: Estimates of the numbers of those aged 60 or over who will be eligible for free off-peak local bus travel are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £000 
			 Authority Population aged 60 and over 
		
		
			 Worcestershire 126.1 
			 Redditch 14.0 
			 Worcester 18.2

Departmental Costs

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) salary bill was and (b) administrative costs were for his Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London in 2004–05.

Karen Buck: The Department for Transport is subject to an administrative budget control system, overseen by the Treasury, which relates to Whitehall Departments only. Figures for estimated administration costs, including paybill, for the Department for Transport in 2004–05 are set out in Appendix A of its Annual Report 2005 (Cm 6527), which is available in the Library of the House. Final outturn figures for total administration costs are contained in the Department's Resource Accounts 2004–05 (HC 476). No separate regional breakdown of these figures is available.

Eddington Review

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings he has attended in the past eight months where the Eddington Review was discussed; and what work his Department has carried out as part of the review.

Karen Buck: holding answer 15 December 2005
	Sir Rod Eddington was asked by the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Transport to provide advice on the long term links between transport, productivity, growth and stability. His work is being supported by a joint team from the Department for Transport and HM Treasury. The Secretary of State has regular meetings with Sir Rod and his team, and their work is also discussed in the context of other meetings.

Helicopter Contracts

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the new S92 search and rescue helicopter to be based at the Stornoway and Sumburgh bases will have the same capabilities as the S61 helicopter.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 15 December 2005
	The Sikorsky S92 offers an enhanced capability over the Sikorsky S61 in terms of speed and endurance. The S92 also offers safety enhancements over the S61 and increased effectiveness in the search and rescue role.

Lighthouses

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the decision-making process is for the raising or lowering of light dues.

Stephen Ladyman: Light dues rates are reviewed annually and determined following consideration of the expenditure proposals of the three General Lighthouse Authorities and the overall liabilities of the General Lighthouse Fund. The Lights Advisory Committee, representing light dues payers, plays an active role in this process.

London Olympics

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 30 November 2005, Official Report, column 565W, on the London Olympics, which transport schemes are funded through Olympic budgets.

Karen Buck: The transport plans for the 2012 games were set out in the candidature file prepared by London 2012. These plans include the following transport schemes funded through Olympic budgets:
	The Games-Time Olympic Javelin service
	Capacity improvements to the North London line
	Additional stopping services on the Great Eastern Mainline at Stratford
	Temporary capacity enhancements at London rail termini
	Signal alterations and station enhancements at West Ham station
	Contribution towards Stratford Regional station upgrade
	Extended opening hours on London Underground
	Security and resilience measures on London Underground
	Temporary service enhancements on the Docklands Light Railway
	Station capacity enhancements on Docklands Light Railway
	Security and resilience measures on Docklands Light Railway
	Olympic Park and Ride schemes
	Cycling and Pedestrian facilities, including extensions and connections to the London cycle network
	Olympic family transportation.

London Olympics

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 30 November 2005, Official Report, column 565W, on the London Olympics, what percentage of the £2.375 billion public sector funding package will be used specifically for developing or improving transport in London; and what percentage of the £2.375 billion public sector funding package will be generated from (a) London council tax and (b) the London Development Agency.

Karen Buck: Of the £2.375 billion public sector funding package made available for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, £542 million (23 per cent.) has been assigned for Olympic specific transport schemes. London council tax will contribute up to £625 million (26 per cent.) to the £2.375 billion public sector funding package and the LDA will contribute £250 million (11 per cent.).

London Olympics

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 30 November 2005, Official Report, column 565W, on the London Olympics, what estimate he has made of the effect in terms of (a) capacity, (b) cost of operation and (c) administrative organisation of converting the North London Line to Docklands Light Railway.

Karen Buck: The operation and development of the Docklands light Railway is the responsibility of Transport for London (TfL).
	Subject to the approval of applications which are currently before the Secretary of State, the planned frequency of the Docklands Light Railway extension between Stratford International and Canning Town prior to the Olympics is some 10 trains per hour, per direction in the peak and six trains off peak. This would mean a passenger capacity of 5,000 per hour, per direction in the peak and 3,000 per hour, per direction off peak. During the Olympics however the frequency of services on this part of the DLR will be increased substantially to accommodate anticipated spectator demand. The converted part of the North London Line to DLR operation will have the capability of up to 30 trains per hour.
	It is anticipated that the cost of operation will be met by revenue.
	TfL have indicated that they would expect the new extension to be operated within the existing franchise arrangements which currently govern the operation of the Docklands Light Railway.

Media Monitoring

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department and its predecessors have spent on media monitoring activities in each of the last eight financial years.

Karen Buck: It is common practice for organisations in both the public and private sector to undertake media monitoring activities. This is to both understand the effectiveness of their communications but also to ensure that they are aware of media coverage of issues relating to their activities.
	The Department for Transport pays for two media monitoring services. As with other Government Departments, the Department pay a subscription for the Cabinet Office's Media Monitoring Unit. The DfT also commissions a press cuttings company to provide a daily set of cuttings of national print media coverage of transport issues.
	Since the Department was formed in May 2002, the following costs have been incurred on these two services in each of the completed financial years:
	
		
			   £ 
			  MMU National press cuttings 
		
		
			 2002–03 40,097.18 169,976.63 
			 2003–04 41,227.50 164,341.13 
			 2004–05 49,000.00 155,693.86

Ministerial Travel

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the travel costs are for each Minister in his Department in each month since June, broken down by mode of transport.

Karen Buck: Ministers use a variety of public transport services when undertaking departmental business. Detailed information about the mode of transport used by Ministers on departmental business is not held centrally and cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
	However, the following table shows the travel costs incurred by each Minister in the period from June to November 2005. These figures include costs incurred in connection with the UK's presidency of the EU this year.
	
		
			£ 
			 Minister June July August September October November Total 
		
		
			 Alistair Darling 3,586 203 34 1,277 5,074 1,001 11,175 
			 Stephen Ladyman 3,642 1,456 1,163 1,011 1,439 8,008 16,719 
			 Derek Twigg 895 0 0 764 211 995 2,865 
			 Karen Buck 284 235 0 221 168 161 1,069 
			 Grand total 8,407 1,894 1,197 3,273 6,892 10,165 31,828 
		
	
	All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Parking Offences

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what checks are made by (a) the Department and (b) the National Parking Adjudication Service on the technical aspects of applications by local authorities for decriminalised parking powers.

Karen Buck: holding answer 15 December 2005
	To take on decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) powers a local authority has to affirm in its application to the Secretary of State that it will comply with the requirements of Local Authority Circular 1/95—"Guidance on Decriminalised Parking Enforcement outside London" as amended. A copy of the circular has been placed in the House Library. The requirements cover a wide range of procedural, operational and other aspects of enforcement, including the need to show that NPAS is content with the relevant local authority's application.

Private Members' Bill

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those Private Members' Bills introduced under (a) Standing Order No. 14(6), (b) Standing Order No. 23 and (c) Standing Order No. 57 which were (i) supported and (ii) opposed by his Department in each Session since 1997–98.

Karen Buck: The Department was formed on 29 May 2002.
	The Department supported the Aviation (Offences) Act 2003 and the Marine Safety Act 2003 both of which were introduced under Standing Order No. 14(6).

Public Relations

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the value was of (a) public opinion research and (b) public relations contracts awarded by his Department in 2004–05 in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London.

Karen Buck: For details of how much the Department for Transport spent on public opinion research in 2004–05, I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 5 October 2005, Official Report, column 2857W, which lists the research and the costs.
	For details of how much the Department for Transport spent on public relations contracts in 2004–05 I refer the hon. Member to a reply to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) on 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 146W, which lists the spend on public relations contracts.
	Breaking these figures down between nation, region of the UK and London could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Public Transport (Disabled Access)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve access to public transport for disabled people in Stroud.

Karen Buck: We have introduced "accessibility planning" into the local transport planning process to encourage local authorities and other agencies to assess more systematically whether people can access transport services in their areas. This process covers all forms of transport from buses, coaches and taxis to cycling and walking networks. Making provision for disabled people is a condition against which the resulting Local Transport Plans (LTPs) are assessed.
	At a local level, Gloucestershire county council have installed raised kerbs at bus stops in Stroud to make it easier for disabled people to get on an off buses.
	At a national level there has been significant progress in making public transport accessible to disabled people through regulations made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995). We made the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (RVAR) in 1998 and many of the trains calling at Stroud station comply with these.
	More generally, disabled people in Stroud as elsewhere in the country will also benefit from the provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA 2005). We have already laid regulations which will, from 4 December 2006, lift the transport exemption in Part 3 of the DDA 1995 for land-based public transport, vehicle hire, breakdown services and vehicles used on leisure and tourism transport services. We will also be consulting shortly on draft regulations to set an "end date" of no later than 1 January 2020 for when all trains will have to meet RVAR and to apply those regulations to older trains when they are refurbished.

Road Fuel

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the value of road fuel sales to the road transport sector in each financial year since 1997–98, broken down by (a) petrol, (b) diesel and (c) biofuel sales.

Stephen Ladyman: Historic data on fuel duty rates, fuel sales and on the total amount of duty paid on those sales is available at http://www.uktradeinfo.com.
	Total sales of petrol, diesel and biofuels in each of the years in question were as follows (all figures are in millions of litres).
	
		Litres (millions)
		
			  Petrol Diesel Biofuels 
		
		
			 1997–98 29,959 18,134 0 
			 1998–99 29,137 18,407 0 
			 1999–2000 28,640 18,295 0 
			 2000–01 27,532 18,493 0 
			 2001–02 28,229 19,113 0 
			 2002–03 27,837 20,102 5 
			 2003–04 27,407 21,230 22 
			 2004–05 26,540 22,395 35 
		
	
	The total amount of duty paid on those fuel sales was as follows (all figures in millions of pounds):
	
		
			£ million 
			  Petrol Diesel (not including biodiesel) Biofuels 
		
		
			 1997–98 12,144 7,101 0 
			 1998–99 13,131 8,197 0 
			 1999–2000 13,667 8,639 0 
			 2000–01 13,397 9,006 0 
			 2001–02 12,960 8,760 0 
			 2002–03 12,756 9,211 1 
			 2003–04 12,713 9,842 6 
			 2004–05 12,500 10,539 9 
		
	
	Data on the total value of road fuel sales is not readily available.

Road Humps (Kettering)

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment the Department has made of road humps in Kettering borough against the regulations the Department has set.

Karen Buck: The Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1999 give local authorities powers to construct road humps without the consent of the Secretary of State as long as they meet the requirements of the regulations.
	The Department does not assess road humps against the regulations. It is the responsibility of local highway authorities to ensure that road humps comply with the regulations.
	Further advice on the design and implementation of road humps is given in the Department's Traffic Advisory Leaflets (TALs). TAL 2/05 "Traffic Calming Bibliography", lists those relevant to road humps, and a copy is already available in the Library of the House.

Roads

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's projected spending on road building is in each of the next five years, broken down by category of road; and how many miles of each category of road he expects to be built over that period.

Stephen Ladyman: We have made indicative budget allocations of £379 million in 2006–07 and £578 million in 2007–08 for major trunk road schemes on motorways and trunk roads categorised as of national importance. In 2006–07 through to 2007–08 we expect to complete two national schemes, which collectively will deliver approximately 6.3 miles of road improvements to the network, and to have started works on eleven others. Expenditure on these roads beyond 2007–08 will be reviewed as part of the next Spending Review and announcements about spending levels beyond 2007–08 will be made after the conclusion of that review.
	Future expenditure on motorways and trunk roads categorised as of regional importance, and on roads which are the responsibility of Local Highway Authorities, will be reviewed in the light of the regions' advice on their priorities for major transport schemes within indicative Regional Funding Allocations, which we published in July 2004. The regions' advice is expected in January 2006. However, the Highways Agency is currently working to indicative budget allocations of £262 million in 2006–07 and £328 million in 2007–08 for major trunk road schemes on motorways and trunk roads categorised as of regional importance. In 2006–07 through to 2007–08 the Highways Agency expects to complete 17 regional schemes, which collectively will deliver approximately 58 miles of road improvements to the network, and to have started works on nine others.

Transport Expenditure

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the transport spending per person by (a) his Department and (b) all public bodies on (i) light rail, (ii) heavy rail, (iii) bus and (iv) roads has been in (A) Yorkshire and Humber and (B) London in each year since 1997; and what estimates have been made for each year to 2010.

Karen Buck: holding answer 15 December 2005
	This information is not held centrally. However, details on overall transport spend per head of population for the two regions, based on certain assumptions as to how this should be attributed, can be found in chapter 8 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005—published by HM Treasury, and available on their website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_ data_and_tools/finance_spending_statistics/pes_publications/pespub_index.cfm

Asbestos

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the risks to the public of the presence of asbestos in textured coatings.

Anne McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
	There are no risks to the public from asbestos in textured coatings where the material is undisturbed and in good condition.
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently published research commissioned from the Health and Safety Laboratory on levels of asbestos fibres released during licensed-work to remove textured decorative coatings in domestic premises. As part of the current Health and Safety Commission (HSE) consultation on proposed changes to the UK regulations governing work with asbestos (Proposals for revised Asbestos Regulations and an Approved Code of Practice (CD 205)), HSE has commissioned further research on asbestos exposures arising from work on textured coatings, will consider the risks to the public from such work, and will evaluate this and other available research.
	The published HSL research and HSC consultation document are available on HSE's website.

Business Start-ups

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many business start-ups have taken place in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) the West Midlands in the last 12 months; and what steps he is taking to increase the number in each case.

Alun Michael: There is no statistical information available which can accurately record the total number of business start-ups as such. New VAT registrations can be used as a proxy for business start-ups, and these show that in 2004 there were 225 new registrations in the Tamworth district council area and 14,855 in the West Midlands. The Tamworth constituency covers a greater area than that of Tamworth district council but it has not been possible to quantify the number of start-up or VAT registrations at a constituency level as records are not maintained by constituency area.
	The Department of Trade and Industry sponsors the regional development agencies (RDAs) which are charged with the responsibility for the economic development of their regions and to work with partners to increase the sustainability of businesses and foster business start-ups. Advantage West Midlands supports a range of regional-level schemes and programmes that support start-ups including Mustard which exists to give new and young business start-ups the right kind of help when they need it the most. It is an initiative offering practical, hands-on expertise to high growth-potential new and young business start-ups in the West Midlands. Mustard is a unique private/public sector collaboration managed by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry and delivered by the region's Business Links and leading private sector consultancies.
	Advantage West Midlands has also established a suite of regional funds available to start-ups including the Early Growth Fund, the Growth Fund and Advantage Business Angels and created a searchable database of all public and private sector sources of finance in the region—www.westmidlandsfinance.com.
	The region's three high technology corridors are sites providing more incubation space for high value start-ups. For example, the Wolverhampton to Telford corridor has just completed work on the £5.5 million e-Innovation Centre in Telford, providing start-up premises and grow-on space for companies involved in high-technology businesses such as e-commerce and e-engineering.
	To create an enterprise culture in Tamworth and the West Midlands region in general, Advantage West Midlands has established the West Midlands Enterprise Board. One of the targets the Enterprise Board has set itself is increasing the number of self employed people in the region by 35,000 by 2010. To help achieve this, it has recommended reforming the business support network. The new reformed network will include in-depth, specialist support to a wide range of start-ups across the region and ensure that the various initiatives which are already in place to stimulate entrepreneurship and start up activity are effectively brought together to provide cohesive packages of support. Under the current business support regime Business Link Staffordshire has assisted 1,816 start-ups in the county during the period 1 January 2005 to 15 December 2005.

Liquefied Gas Pipeline

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with (a) Cadw and (b) the Countryside Council for Wales in relation to the proposed Tywi Route for the liquefied gas pipeline from Milford Haven to Herefordshire.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has attended a meeting with key parties on the proposed pipeline from Milford Haven to Aberdulais. It has also attended several meetings on proposed pipeline from Filindre to Tirley at which the proposed route was discussed. I understand the CCW attended all the meetings but not the CADW.

Over-indebtedness

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he has taken as a result of his tackling over-indebtedness action plan of 2004; what further research and monitoring he carried out further to Annex D of the action plan; and what the results were.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Actions taken as a result of the tackling over-indebtedness action plan of 2004 are set out in "Tackling Over-indebtedness—Annual Report 2005" published in August 2005 (available in the Libraries of the House and on the DTI website: http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topicsl/overindebtedness.htmreport2005). Research carried out further to the 2004 plan is summarised in Annex C of the 2005 annual report. Monitoring of progress against the action plan is included in the annual report, with additional monitoring of the high level factors which influence levels of over-indebtedness reviewed on a quarterly basis (and published on the DTI website: http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topicsl/overindebtedness.htmmonitorql05). The results of these exercises are set out in the documents referred to and enclosed references.

Armed Forces

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British armed forces personnel are deployed on (a) expeditionary operations abroad, broken down by country, and (b) in Northern Ireland.

Adam Ingram: Data collected manually from operational records show that as at 7 December 2005 the number of armed forces personnel deployed and in country on that day were as follows.
	
		
			 Country Number of(9) service personnel 
		
		
			 Iraq 7,930 
			 Bosnia 770 
			 Kosovo 190 
			 Afghanistan 950 
			 Qatar 460 
			 USA 30 
			 Bahrain 410 
			 South Atlantic 1,200 
			 Diego Garcia 40 
			 Cyprus 3,350 
			 Gibraltar 550 
			 Congo 10 
			 Georgia 10 
			 Liberia (10)— 
			 Sierra Leone 10 
			 Sudan — 
		
	
	(9) Due to the founding methods used, figures may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.
	(10) Indicates less than 10.
	As at 30 November 2005 there were 9,790 service personnel in Northern Ireland. This figure includes 3,150 members of the Royal Irish Regiment.

Atomic Weapons Establishment

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the balance sheet value of the Atomic Weapons Establishment was on 31 March; what the (a) carrying charge and (b) applicable depreciation for that establishment is in the 2005–06 financial year; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: As at 31 March 2005, the Gross Book Value of the Atomic Weapons Establishment: (AWE) Balance Sheet was £599.8 million and the associated carrying depreciation was £86.7 million, resulting in a Net Book Value of £513.1 million. The projected in year depreciation to 31 March 2006, is £26.2 million.

Defence Systems and Equipment Exhibition

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the types of equipment exhibited at the Defence Systems and Equipment International 2005 exhibition which are banned for direct export under British law.

Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
	The DTI is not responsible for authorising displays at this exhibition, and the question should be referred to the organiser, who worked closely with the Ministry of Defence.
	The DTIs role is limited to the issue of export licences where these are required, e.g. for the re-export of goods on display after the exhibition, or the promotion of trade in controlled or restricted goods between third countries. On that basis, we are not aware that any of the goods specified were exhibited at DSEI2005. Beyond that, export licences are not required for the exhibition of such goods in the UK. Firearms licences may however be required from the Home Office.
	The Government's 1997 ban on the export and transhipment through the UK of torture goods relates to portable devices designed or modified for riot control purposes or self-protection to administer an electric shock, including electric-shock batons, electric-shock shields, stun guns, and tasers, and specially designed components for such devices, and leg-irons, gang-chains, shackles (excluding normal handcuffs). Since 1998, the import, export, transfer and manufacture of all forms of anti-personnel landmines has also been banned.

Disability

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a Minister in his Department is planned to be nominated to take responsibility for liaison with the Office for Disability Issues; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: The Ministry of Defence is not a key Department in taking forward the recommendations of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Report "Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People" with the Office for Disability Issues, and is not, therefore, a member of the cross-government ministerial steering group. We are, however, kept fully aware of the work of the steering group and will be involved as necessary. I am the lead Minister for equality and diversity issues generally within the Department.

Falklands/South Georgia

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF personnel are serving in (i) the Falklands and (ii) South Georgia.

Adam Ingram: There are approximately 390 Army, 340 Navy and 680 Royal Air Force personnel serving in the Falklands. The numbers of armed forces personnel serving in the Falklands and South Georgia will vary throughout the year as a result of individual posting plots and unit movements.
	There are no armed forces personnel based permanently on South Georgia.

HMS Sheffield

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2005, Official Report, column 1409W, on HMS Sheffield, what his timetable is for (a) the completion of the departmental review and (b) the publication of the findings; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence review is still continuing but I hope to be in a position to write to the hon. Member in the new year to advise him of the timetable for its completion. At that time, it should also be possible to provide an indication as to when any documents relating to the Board of Inquiry into the loss of HMS Sheffield may be made public.

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements his Department has made to facilitate the financial assistance offered by the US-based Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund to the families of British personnel lost on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Don Touhig: holding answer 14 December 2005
	Since June 2003, the Intrepid/Anheusar Busch Fallen Heroes Fund (Intrepid Foundation) has, very generously, been supporting the widows and children of US and UK Service personnel killed while serving on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Support ceased in June 2005 when the Intrepid Foundation decided to concentrate its activities in support of limbless US Service personnel. This decision was taken in light of the recent US Congress decision to significantly enhance the support given to families of personnel killed while on operations.
	The Ministry of Defence has a liaison officer in place who regularly communicates with the Intrepid Foundation in New York and facilitates payments through the appropriate single Service casualty organisation. The Intrepid Foundation has paid $10,000 to each widow and $5,000 to each child of a Service person who has died. Where an unmarried partner is involved, the Foundation has paid $5,000 to each child. Forty-eight families have so far benefited from the Intrepid Foundation with payments ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. There are four outstanding cases that the Fund and the Ministry of Defence continue to work on.
	When the scheme ceased in June this year the Chief of the Defence Staff wrote to the Chairman of the Intrepid Foundation thanking him personally for his support. I would like to take this opportunity to add my own personal thanks for their very generous and unstinting support.

Iraq/Afghanistan

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the identities of the killers of the six Royal Military Police who died at Al Majarr Al Kabir in Iraq on 24 June 2003 are known by the British authorities.

Adam Ingram: The identities of individuals suspected of being involved in the incident in which the six Royal Military Policemen died in Al Majarr Al Kabir on 24 June 2003 are known to the British authorities.
	Jurisdiction for this case lies with the central criminal court of Iraq and they are responsible for issuing any arrest warrants. Case papers, which take account of the Royal Military Police investigation, including the identity of key suspects, have been lodged with the court. The Ministry of Defence will continue to provide whatever support it can.

Opinion Research/Public Relations

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value was of (a) public opinion research and (b) public relations contracts awarded by his Department in 2004–05 in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London.

Don Touhig: The Ministry of Defence placed one contract for a corporate level public opinion poll in Financial Year 2004–05. This research was undertaken at national level and cost £41,736 (inc VAT). Details of other surveys that may have been conducted by the Ministry of Defence and its agencies are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The MOD does not record expenditure on public relations in the form requested, and this information also could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Parliamentary Questions

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to make a substantive reply to the questions tabled by the hon. Member for New Forest, East for Named Day Answer on 22 November 2005, on war-disabled UK veterans who live in former UK colonies, references (a) 29624, (b) 29625, (c) 29626, (d) 29627 and (e) 29628.

Don Touhig: holding answer 12 December 2005
	I replied to the hon. Member today.

Space

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the military use of space.

Adam Ingram: The focus of the United Kingdom Government's space policy is on civil and scientific uses. However, we also derive important security benefits from its military use. Like many countries, the UK uses satellites for a wide range of military functions such as secure communications, meteorological predictions and in the effective monitoring of various arms control treaties. This military use of space is distinct from the deployment of weapons in space. The UK Government has no plans to deploy weapons in space.
	As one of the Depository States (along with the US and Russia), the UK Government continues to fully support the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which places important constraints on the use of space, including prohibiting the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in space and military activity on the moon and other celestial bodies.
	The main forum for discussing the military use of space is the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. We have taken part in informal discussions on the possibility of a further treaty banning weapons in space, although no international consensus has been reached on the need for such a treaty. Notwithstanding this, we continue to support the annual resolution on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) at the UN.

Type-45 Destroyers

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the original estimated cost of each Type-45 destroyer was; and what the current estimated cost is.

Adam Ingram: The estimated unit production cost of each Type 45 at Main Gate was £582 million. The latest estimated unit production cost, as at 31 March 2005 and as reported in the National Audit's Office Major Projects Report 2005, is £561.6 million. The unit production cost excludes development costs, which is amortised over the entire class of warships, and cost of capital.

War-disabled UK Veterans

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the financial help available to war-disabled UK veterans, or their widowed spouses, who live in former UK colonies;
	(2)  what discretion he has to make ex gratia payments to deserving cases of war-disabled UK veterans, or their spouses, living abroad in straitened circumstances;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of Second World War-disabled UK veterans, or their spouses, who live in former UK colonies which have failed to pay war-disablement pensions since achieving independence; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what the criteria are for awarding supplementation payments to war-disabled UK veterans, or their spouses, who live in former UK colonies.

Don Touhig: holding answer 22 November 2005
	Regardless of their country of residence personnel who served in the British armed forces, or their widows, may be entitled to receive payments under the United Kingdom war pension scheme in respect of injury or death due to service.
	The provision of the scheme extends to those members who served in military units based in the United Kingdom or Isle of Man. Responsibility for pension provision of British Europeans who served with locally raised colonial forces is the responsibility of the Government of the territory in which they were raised, under arrangements made when they gained their independence.
	No estimate has been made of the number of Second World War disabled UK veterans, or their spouses, who live in former British colonies which have failed to pay war disablement pensions since achieving independence.
	War disabled veterans who served in units raised in certain former colonial territories can have their overseas war pension supplemented, where the responsible government has failed to maintain payment, if they can be certified as an overseas officer in respect of the overseas territory in which they enlisted. The responsibility for certifying them as an overseas officer rests with the Overseas Pensions Departments of the Department for International Development and, in broad terms, an overseas officer is one who was not born in the overseas territory and not normally resident there at the time of his service.
	In certain circumstances, where no overseas government pension has been awarded, awards may be made on a statutory basis under the Personal Injuries Scheme and extra statutory awards can be made via Treasury authority given in 1946.

Cheque Fraud

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the British Bankers' Association about methods to reduce cheque fraud.

Paul Goggins: The Government take fraud seriously. Ministers and officials meet regularly with representatives from the police, retail and banking sectors, including the BBA, to discuss ways of combating fraud, including cheque fraud.
	On 27 October the Attorney General announced terms of reference for a wide ranging cross government review of fraud. The review will engage a range of key stakeholders, including the banking industry, and consider the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution/punishment of fraud.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 1 November regarding a constituent, reference M26613/5.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 8 December 2005
	I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 7 December 2005, Official Report, column 1357W.

Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Warley of (a) 27 October regarding Mr. Munye, Jordan Close, Smethwick, (b) 13 September regarding Mrs. McBride, Wigon Road, Smethwick, (c) 5 October regarding Mr. Dalvir Singh, Tollgate Shopping Centre, Smethwick and (d) 16 November regarding Mr. Mohammed Hasan, 25 Beacon Close, Smethwick.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mr. Munye on 14 December 2005.
	(b) The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mrs. McBride on 7 December 2005.
	(c) The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mr. Singh on 13 December 2005.
	(d) The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mr. Hasan on 14 December 2005.

Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will reply to the letter of 15 September from the right hon. Member for Warley regarding (a) Mr. Rolando March, Priory Close, Smethwick and (b) Mr. Tvala, Melbourne Road, Smethwick.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mr. March on 13 December 2005.
	(b) The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mr. Tvala on 13 December 2005.

Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will reply to the letter of 14 September from the right hon. Member for Warley regarding (a) Mr. Kushnau, Woodlands Street, Smethwick and (b) Mr. Mahmoud, High Road, Smethwick.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mr. Kushnau on 14 December 2005.
	(b) Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Warley about Mr. Mahmoud on12 December 2005.

Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 4 October 2005 from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, regarding Neville Harding, reference H353358.

Tony McNulty: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Ladywood, Birmingham about Mr. Harding on 14 December 2005.

Deportation

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he takes if a deportee is discovered to have suffered an unfair trial, torture or ill treatment, in contravention of the UK's agreement with the receiving country.

Tony McNulty: We firmly believe that governments are entering into these agreements in good faith, and are confident that they will abide by the terms of any assurances given. Any contravention of a bilateral international agreement between Her Majesty's Government and another government would be a matter of considerable concern.
	If there were an allegation suggesting that the terms of an agreement had not been honoured, we would seek an immediate report of the circumstances from the authorities of the receiving state, and would request immediate access to the individual concerned.
	Action thereafter would depend on the nature of the breach, and on the remedial action, if any, taken by the authorities in the country concerned; it could include a request for an independent inquiry, and/or a request for the receiving state to take remedial action. Failure to comply with formal political commitments in a Memorandum of Understanding or similar political instrument can seriously damage relations between the signatory states, and the standing of the state concerned in the international community generally.

Deportation

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those countries where there are substantial grounds to believe that a person deported would be subject to torture with which the UK (a) has signed a memorandum of understanding and (b) is in the process of negotiating a memorandum of understanding allowing the deportation of individuals who are citizens of that state, including those who pose a threat to national security and public order; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Government have signed Memoranda of Understanding with Jordan and with Libya to facilitate the deportation of particular individuals consistent with our international human rights obligations, in particular those in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). We are discussing similar arrangements with Algeria and the Lebanon. We have said we will make public the names of the other countries to which we are talking when the time is right.

Detention Centres (Medical Services)

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which companies have been contracted to provide medical services to each detention centre for asylum seekers in England.

Tony McNulty: Three of the nine immigration removal centres in England are directly managed, being operated by the Prison Service on behalf of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Primary health care services at the centres concerned (Dover, Haslar and Lindholme) are therefore provided under normal Prison Service arrangements.
	The six privately run removal centres are operated under separate contracts. The operators are: Global Solutions Ltd. at Campsfield, Oakington, Tinsley House and Yarl's Wood; Serco at Colnbrook; and UKDS Ltd. at Harmondsworth.
	Removal centre contracts include requirements to provide specified primary health care services to detained persons. It is for the individual contractors to decide how to deliver their contractual obligations for the provision of primary health care services, whether through "in-house" delivery, via a health care sub-contractor, or a mix of both approaches.

Leave to Remain

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2005, Official Report, column 2317W, on leave to remain, what percentage of postal applications was processed in (a) 20 and (b) 70 working days in the last year for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: Applications under the provisions of the European Community Association Agreements (ECAA) fall in to the category of non-charged casework. The published service standards for this category are 25 per cent. of postal applications to be processed in 20 working days and 30 per cent. in 70 working days.
	The average time taken from the date of receipt until the date of decision for European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) applications during the period 1 August to 31 October 2005 was 331 days. This information is provisional management information.

Prison Population

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the future prison population; and what plans he has to meet these projections.

Fiona Mactaggart: The most recent prison population projections are in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/05 "Updated and Revised Prison Population Projections, 2005–2011, England and Wales"—July 2005. Figures for 10 scenarios can be found in this document. The scenarios range from 'High' to 'Low'. Projected total prison population figures (end of June) for 'High' and 'Low' scenarios for the relevant financial years are presented in the following table.
	The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) keeps under review the demand on prison places and the capacity of prisons to accommodate those prisoners sent to them by the courts. The operational capacity of the prison estate is being increased by bringing accommodation back into use and through additional places being built at existing prisons.
	
		Projected prison population(11)
		
			  High Low 
		
		
			 2005 76,600 76,110 
			 2006 79,490 76,060 
			 2007 84,260 76,670 
			 2008 87,870 77,310 
			 2009 89,400 77,080 
			 2010 91,500 77,380 
			 2011 90,780 76,520 
		
	
	(11) End of June figures.

Returned Detainees

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with foreign Governments on returning to secure detention in those countries of their nationals held in British prisons.

Fiona Mactaggart: The United Kingdom is a signatory to two multi-party prisoner transfer agreements; the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and the Commonwealth Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders. In addition, the Government have concluded bilateral prisoner transfer agreements with 18 countries. The UK has prisoner transfer agreements with a total of 97 countries and territories and is in regular contact with the Governments concerned about the transfer of individual prisoners.
	Prisoner transfer under these agreements is voluntary; the consent of both states involved, and of the prisoner concerned, is required before repatriation can take place. In 2004, 107 prisoners were transferred from prisons in England and Wales to other countries to continue serving their sentences.

Sex Offenders

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the performance indicators are for the monitoring of sex offenders for each police authority area in England and Wales.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) have been in place since 2001 and have already made a significant contribution to public protection. Under the MAPPA, the police, probation and prison services, supported by additional agencies including housing, health and social services, combine forces to manage the risk to the public posed by sexual and violent offenders. Those "critical few" offenders that pose the highest risk are referred to a Multi-Agency Public Protection Panel (MAPPP), where their cases are regularly scrutinised by senior representatives of local agencies.
	From next year police and probation areas have been asked to produce business plans which will aid the monitoring and development of the MAPPA locally. Each area is already obliged to produce an annual report to highlight the work undertaken within the MAPPA to protect local communities. The annual reports published in October showed that only a very small proportion of offenders managed at the highest levels in the community were charged with a serious further offences (SFO), indicating a robust level of management.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers are currently developing a public protection manual to provide central guidance to police forces in managing not only sex offenders in the community but covering all areas of public protection. This is due in 2006.

Skilled Migrants

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many (a) teachers, (b) IT specialists and (c) engineers from (i) Sierra Leone, (ii) Malawi, (iii) Tanzania, (iv) Ghana, (v) Zambia, (vi) Africa, (vii) South Asia and (viii) other Asian countries have been admitted to the United Kingdom under the terms of (A) the work permits system and (B) the highly skilled migrants programme in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many nurses from (a) Sierra Leone, (b) Malawi, (c) Tanzania, (d) Ghana, (e) Zambia and (f) Africa have been admitted to the United Kingdom under the terms of the work permit system in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many general practitioners from (a) Sierra Leone, (b) Malawi, (c) Tanzania, (d) Ghana, (e) Zambia and (f) Africa were admitted to the United Kingdom under the terms of the (i) Highly Skilled Migrant Programme and (ii) Work Permit Scheme in each year since 2002.

Tony McNulty: The requested information is not available.

Departmental Estate

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was paid by his Department in 2004–05 in rent for properties in (a) total, (b) Scotland and (c) London.

David Cairns: The costs for the buildings rented by the Scotland Office in 2004–05 are as follows:
	
		
			£ 
			 Building Scotland London Total 
		
		
			 Dover House — 12,338 12,338 
			 Melville Crescent,  Edinburgh 135,250 — 135,250 
			 Total 135,250 12,338 147,588 
		
	
	The Office pays a reduced rent for Dover House and consequently an adjustment is made in the resource accounts of the Office to reflect this; the latest net book value of the building is £1.09 million.
	In addition, the Office has a small amount of accommodation in Meridian Court, Glasgow and Frederick Street, Edinburgh. These premises are shared with other Departments. The Office pays an agreed share of the overall running costs of each building which includes such items as rent, rates, utilities, cleaning and security and a separate record is not held of the rental element of the costs. The costs of the agreed share in 2004–05 for Meridian Court was £21,797 and for Frederick Street was £7,107.

Departmental Staff (Chronic Back Pain)

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what initiatives are being taken in his Department to help civil servants with chronic back pain.

David Cairns: All the staff in the Scotland Office are on loan from the Scottish Executive or the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DC A). Both the DCA and the Executive can arrange for provision of practical and timely support for employees with chronic back pain or other health problems, including mental health.

Rates

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was paid by his Department in rates in 2004–05, broken down by local authority; and how much was paid in rates in 2004–05 in London.

David Cairns: The payments for rates for the Scotland Office in 2004–05 were:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Name and address Local authority Cost 
		
		
			 Dover House, Whitehall,  London, SW1A 2AU City of Westminster 131,100 
			 1 Melville Crescent,  Edinburgh, EH3 7HW City of Edinburgh 48,118 
		
	
	In addition, the Office has a small amount of accommodation in Meridian Court, Glasgow and Frederick Street, Edinburgh. These premises are shared with other Departments. The Office pays an agreed share of the overall running costs of each building which includes such items as rent, rates, utilities, cleaning and security and a separate record is not held of the rates element of the costs. The costs of the agreed share in 2004–05 for Meridian Court was £21,797 and for Frederick Street was £7,107.

Agricultural Products (Designation)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what agricultural products she plans to designate as sensitive in the forthcoming World Trade Organisation negotiations.

Ben Bradshaw: The issue of sensitive products is a key aspect of the negotiations on agricultural market access. The principle that WTO Members may designate "an appropriate number" of sensitive products was established under the July 2004 Framework Agreement. However, the number and treatment of sensitive products have yet to be agreed under the negotiations. When these issues are agreed, it will be for the EU as a whole, rather than for individual EU member states, to designate the sensitive products. The UK's position in these EU discussions will be guided both by our firm support for the Doha Development Agenda mandate to secure substantial improvements in agricultural market access, and by the position of key UK stakeholders.

Animal Feed

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) feed barley and (b) feed wheat was produced in the United Kingdom in each year since 2001–02.

Jim Knight: Estimates of the quantity of wheat and barley used for animal feed in the UK are given in the following table:
	
		United Kingdom feed use of wheat and barley Thousand tonnes
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Total wheat 6,159 6,891 6,491 6,862 6,807 
			 Of which home grown 5,690 6,677 6,314 6,849 6,759 
			   
			 Total barley 3,885 3,285 3,494 3,137 3,021 
			 Of which home grown 3,794 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	For confidentiality reasons home grown barley figures are not available from 2002–03.
	Excludes exports of UK produced wheat and barley. Information on the end use of exports is not available and therefore the quantity of exports subsequently used for animal feed is not known.

Bovine TB

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost of tuberculosis testing for bovine tuberculosis was in each of the last three years; and what the costs of culling animals affected by tuberculosis were in each year.

Ben Bradshaw: Summary of GB TB expenditure for periods 2002–03 to 2004–05.
	
		
			£ million 
			 Activity 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Cattle Testing 24.7 33.2 36.4 
			 Compensation 31.9 34.4 35.0 
			 Culling Trial 6.6 7.3 7.2 
			 Other Research 6.5 7.0 5.7 
			 VLA 4.1 5.3 4.9 
			 HQ/Overheads 0.7 1.0 1.3 
			 Total 74.5 88.2 90.5 
		
	
	TB expenditure in 2003–04 increased by 18.4 per cent. on 2002–03.
	TB expenditure for 2004–05 shows increase of 2.6 per cent. on 2003–04.

Departmental Consultants

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many secondees there have been to her Department from consultancy firms, including the Big Four accountancy firms, in each of the last three years; and what areas of the Department they have worked in.

Jim Knight: In the last three years there have been no recorded secondments to DEFRA from the Big Four accountancy firms.
	DEFRA has though seconded a large number of individuals from a wide variety of other organisations but establishing which of these organisations may have a consultancy strand would be possible only at disproportionate cost.
	The term 'secondee' refers to a person 'borrowed' from an organisation outside the civil service for a period of between three months and three years (exceptionally five years), without affecting employment status. During the secondment period the 'secondee' remains an employee of the parent organisation but is expected to abide by the DEFRA Staff Handbook and the Official Secrets Act. Secondees are expected to undertake the full range of duties attached to the post. At the end of the secondment the 'secondee' returns to the parent organisation.

Departmental Property

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was paid by her Department in rent for properties in (a) total, (b) each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK and (c) London in 2004–05.

Jim Knight: The amount of rent paid by DEFRA in 2004–05 is given in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 (a) Total 22.66 
		
		
			 (b) (i) East Midlands 0.09 
			  East of England 2.65 
			  London 12.97 
			  North East 1.09 
			  North West 0.18 
			  South East 3.68 
			  South West 1.30 
			  West Midlands 0.27 
			  Yorkshire and Humber 0.24 
			
			 (b) (ii) England 22.47 
			  Scotland 0.10 
			  Wales 0.09

Departmental Transport

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answers of 29 November 2005, Official Report, column 507W and 29 November 2005, Official Report, column 301W, on departmental transport, why the departmental building in Merrow, Guildford does not yet have a Travel Plan; when the joint Travel Plan will be published; whether car parking by staff and contractors outside the departmental buildings in Merrow has been identified as a significant impact; and if her Department will issue instructions to its staff and contractors not to park in residential roads around the departmental building, with particular reference to Down road, Daryngton drive, Carroll avenue, Gateways, Broadwater rise and Pitt Farm road.

Jim Knight: The Department in Merrow did have a Travel Plan, which was made redundant by the increase in numbers of contractors over the last 12 months necessitating a full re-write of the plan.
	The revised Travel Plan will be made available to site users by the end of December and will have been prepared by the Department and IBM.
	Car parking by staff and contractors outside the departmental buildings in Merrow has been identified as a significant impact.
	Staff and contractors who are unable to park on-site, are requested to avoid parking in Down road, Daryngton drive, Carroll avenue, Gateways, Broadwater rise and Pitt Farm road. A site wide notice to all staff and contractors to re-iterate this request will be issued on 15 December 2005.

Digital Mapping

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in the South West submitted incorrect data for digital mapping in each year between 2002 and 2004.

Jim Knight: The Rural Payments Agency is responsible for the administration of digital mapping in England. The RPA developed the RLR between 2002 and 2004 predominantly using land parcels previously claimed for subsidy purposes, notably data received with Area Aid Applications. In some cases this included data from on the spot inspections and any information the applicant provided in the form of mapping requests. The following table shows the number of applicants in the South West where an overclaim was found as a result of an inspection.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2002 386 
			 2003 349 
			 2004 378

Direct Mail

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if she will take steps to reduce the amount of paper used in direct mail by encouraging the use of cleared mailing lists;
	(2)  if she will assess the effects on the environment of a (a) 5 per cent. and (b) 10 per cent. reduction in direct mail;
	(3)  when she last met representatives of the direct mail industry to discuss waste paper.

Ben Bradshaw: In July 2003 the Government signed a voluntary producer responsibility agreement with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), a trade body representing 890 corporate members of the direct mail industry, to increase the recycling of direct mail to 70 per cent. by 2013 (the level of direct mail recycling was about 13 per cent. in 2002). The first target of 30 per cent. is due to be met by the end of 2005.
	As part of the agreement, the DMA have also agreed to reduce waste by improving the targeting of direct mail and by publicising the use of suppression files such as the Mailing Preference Service which allows people to opt out of receiving addressed direct mail.
	The signing of the agreement in July 2003 was the last meeting between my officials and the DMA. However, we have had ongoing correspondence with the DMA who have produced an interim report on their progress in relation to the objectives set out in the agreement. We are currently awaiting the publication of the first formal report which will detail whether they have achieved the 2005 recycling target of 30 per cent. I would expect my officials to hold a progress meeting shortly after the publication of this report in the new year.
	I do not intend to conduct a quantitative analysis of the environmental benefits of reducing direct mail at this time. However a 5 per cent. and 10 per cent. reduction in direct mail will equate to a saving of 271 million and 542 million items of direct mail per year respectively, (based on the current estimate of 5.4 billion items of direct mail being distributed annually). The Government takes the view that direct mail is a legitimate method of marketing goods and services and has no plans to introduce legislation prohibiting or restricting the distribution of such mail, although it will continue to encourage and support the use of a voluntary opt out service.

Entry Level Scheme

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons she decided to adopt the regional route in determining entry level scheme payments.

Jim Knight: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the Entry Level Stewardship strand of Environmental Stewardship. The regional route and the historic route has not been part of the process in determining Entry Level Stewardship payments.
	Entry Level Stewardship has a national payment rate of £30 per hectare, per year. However land parcels of 15 hectares or more in the Less Favoured Area, are eligible for payments of £8 per hectare, per year.
	The payment rate for Entry Level Stewardship was determined using a combination of agronomic assumptions based on various farming systems which covers income forgone and costs incurred calculations, along with an incentive element where it was deemed appropriate. A more detailed breakdown setting out the calculations behind each option can be found in the England Rural Development Programme Modification to the Commission.

Environmental Controls

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice she is offering to farmers on whether they will need to register with the Environment Agency for (a) a waste management licence and (b) a pollution prevention and control permit.

Ben Bradshaw: The Environment Agency has issued interim guidance to advise farmers of the regulatory requirements when waste management controls (waste management licensing or waste pollution prevention and control (PPC) permits) apply to agriculture. This guidance was published in Farmers Weekly on 2 December 2005 and will be published in British Farmer and Grower on 28 December 2005. The Environment Agency's National Customer Contact Centre (0845 6033113) has launched a dedicated enquiry line for agricultural waste.
	The Defra funded Environment Sensitive Farming programme (ESF) holds event's across all regions of England and Wales for farmers. ESF advises and informs farmers on the new controls. The website can be viewed at http://www.environmentsensitivefarming.co.uk/. In addition, a Recycling Directory that provides recycling and disposal advice to farmers on agricultural waste is available at http://www.wasterecycling.org.uk/. The Environment Agency has set up a Communications Group involving agricultural industry stakeholders. The Communications Group have drafted a plan for a range of activities starting in early 2006 using publications, posters, CDs, pig and poultry events and workshops for intensive livestock operators. These workshops will provide practical assistance to operators in submitting their PPC applications. The Environment Agency has established a website for intensive livestock operators concerning PPC at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444304/1224648/1224695/1116263/?version=1&lang=_e
	The Environment Agency's "Guide for applicants for pig and poultry rearing units" is already available and was updated in July 2005. The Environment Agency is currently holding a public consultation on new guidance entitled "IPPC—How to comply—Guidance for intensive pig and poultry farmers". The consultation ends on 24 February 2006. It is expected that the final guidance will be published in Spring 2006.

EU Sugar Regime

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria were used to agree additional EU support for sugar producers in the French Département d'Outre Mer; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The additional support for sugar producers in the outermost regions of the EU, including French overseas departments, is based on the specific characteristics distinguishing production in those areas and will be integrated into local support programmes as provided for in the relevant Council Regulations in the POSEI (Programme of Options Specific to Remote and Insular Regions) series.

Farm Animals (Disease Levy)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the merits of imposing a levy on farmers to pay for the cost of future animal disease outbreaks; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Joint Industry Government Working Group announced 28 November in the "Partners for success—A farm regulation and charging strategy" will assess the merits of a levy on farmers as part of its consideration of the options for sharing the risks of animal disease outbreaks.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 November 2005, Official Report, column 1061W, on home information packs, if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's submission.

Ben Bradshaw: A copy of the submission will be made available in the Library of the House. My officials will continue discussions with interested parties on the inclusion of contaminated land reports in Home Improvement Packs.

Home Information Packs

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 15 November 2005, Official Report, column 1061W, on Home Information Packs (HIPs), what information on contaminated land she proposes should be included in HIPs; and if she will place the full submission to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (a) in the Library and (b) on her Department's website.

Ben Bradshaw: The submission referred to in the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) has already been placed in the Library of the House. The Department has not put forward proposals of its own on the contents of Home Information Packs, but will continue discussions with interested parties on the possible inclusion of contaminated land reports in these Packs

Landfill

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of how many tons of paper went to landfill in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: Data are not specifically collected on the amount of paper sent to landfill. However, the Confederation of British Paper Industries estimates the amount of paper consumed in the UK and therefore likely to become waste (shown in the following table). They also estimate that 38 per cent. of paper and board are recycled. The paper materials that are not sent for recycling will be disposed of by some method, but it is not known what proportion of this is sent to landfill.
	
		Estimated consumption(14) of paper and board in the UK Million tonnes
		
			  Amount 
		
		
			 1999 12.8 
			 2000 12.9 
			 2001 12.6 
			 2002 12.4 
			 2003 12.5 
		
	
	(14) Consumption is defined as UK production plus imports minus exports.

Landfill

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2005, Official Report, column 930W, on landfill, if she will make an assessment of the landfill requirement arising from the consumption of bottled water; and if she will draw up a plan of action to encourage the recycling of bottles.

Ben Bradshaw: Glass and plastic bottles are already subject to recycling obligations under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended), which require businesses that handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year and have a turnover greater than £2 million to recover and recycle specified tonnages of packaging waste.
	In 2004, 344,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste was recycled, of which we estimate that about 10 per cent. or 34,500 tonnes was plastic bottles, some of which would have held water. I understand that the plastic industry expect to recycle 50,000 tonnes of plastic bottles this year. Likewise, in 2004, 1,050,000 tonnes of glass packaging waste was recycled, of which approximately 75 per cent. was glass bottles and again some would have held water. It is worth noting, however, that in 2004 only 32,000 tonnes of glass was used to bottle water. It is much more sustainable for people to drink tap water.

Landfill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of (a) closed and (b) operating landfill sites capture methane for electricity generation; what volume in total was captured in the last period for which figures are available; and what estimate she has made of savings in greenhouse gas emissions from (i) non-release of methane and (ii) displacement of fossil fuel generation, assuming all displacement came from such sources.

Ben Bradshaw: In 2004, there were in excess of 200 generating stations utilising landfill methane in the UK. The Government does not hold statistics determining whether these landfill gas utilisation plants are located on closed landfill sites or operational ones. There are about 900 of the latter. According to DTI statistics, the total installed generating capacity at landfill sites in 2004 was 722 MW. Research for Defra by Colder Associates indicates that the volume of methane captured for electricity generation was about 1,070 thousand tonnes (kT) in 2004. An estimated additional 1,307 kt methane was captured and flared at landfill sites. This means that electricity generation and flaring saved greenhouse gas emissions of about 6 million tonnes carbon equivalent (MtC equiv), and about 7.5 MtC equiv, respectively. The total saving from capture was therefore about 13.5 MtC equiv. The generating plant produced about 4 TWh of electricity, equivalent to saving a further 0.5 million MtC equiv due to reduced emissions at power stations.

Opinion Research/Public Relations

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value was of (a) public opinion research and (b) public relations contracts awarded by her Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London in 2004–05.

Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given on 7 December 2005, Official Report, column 1294W and 12 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1600–1601W, salient details of which are given as follows.
	(a) Public opinion research
	Since 2001 Defra's Communications Directorate has commissioned the following omnibus tracking survey to measure public awareness of the Department, knowledge of its responsibilities and opinions on its performance:
	
		
			 Date Company Cost (£) 
		
		
			 February 2002 Taylor Nelson Sofres 42,000 
			 April 2004 Taylor Nelson Sofres 14,950 
			 October 2005 Taylor Nelson Sofres 26,000 
		
	
	Copies of all three surveys are available in the Library of the House.
	(b) Public relations
	Since 2001 Defra's Communications Directorate has commissioned the following external media relations services.
	
		
			 Date Agency Cost (£) Project 
		
		
			 2002 Good Relations 5,900 Sustainable Food and Farming 
			 2002 Biss Lancaster 189,366.67 Your countryside your welcome 
			 2002 Red 121,848.93 Illegal Imports 
			 2002 Country Porter Novelli 16,243 Sustainable Development 
			 2003 Forster Company 11,170 Darwin Initiative 
			 July 2004-March 2005 Media Moguls 261,558.70 Illegal Food Imports Campaign Phase 1 
			 August 2005-present Media Moguls 22,362.31 Illegal Food Imports Campaign Phase 2 
			 January 2005-May 2005 Amazon Public Relations 55,904.84 Launch of the Sustainable Development Strategy 
			 August 2005 to date Amazon Public Relations 18,750 Sustainable Development case studies 
			 October 2005 to March 2006 Weber Shandwick 60,000 Climate Change 
		
	
	All agencies provided specialist skills and services not currently available within Defra's Communications Directorate.
	Details of public opinion research and public relations contracts broken down by nation and regional are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportional costs.

Poultry

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the UK's poultry imports came from Thailand in 2004–05.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 15 December 2005
	Imports of poultry products from Thailand into the UK for the period 2003 to September 2005 are shown in the following table. The final row in the table shows that these represented 9.8 per cent. (by value) of total poultry imports into the UK for the period January to September 2005.
	The importation of fresh poultry meat produced on or after 1 January 2004 and cooked poultry meat which has not been heat treated to at least 70°C was banned in January 2004. Poultry meat products which have been cooked to 70°C or more are not considered to be a risk.
	
		
			  2003 2004 January to September 2005 
			  Tonnes 000 £000 Tonnes 000 £000 Tonnes 000 £000 
		
		
			 Total imports 567 1,071 622 1,153 495 854 
			 Imports from Thailand 46 88 46 86 47 83 
			 Proportion of imports from Thailand 8.1% 8)2% 7.4% 7.4% 9.6% 9.8% 
		
	
	Crown Copyright
	Note:
	1. Data prepared by Trade statistics, Food Chain Analysis 3, DEFRA
	2. 2005 data is subject to amendments.
	Source:
	HM Revenue and Customs.

Single Farm Payment Scheme

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of digital mapping in relation to single farm payments is complete.

Jim Knight: Around 95 per cent. of the digital mapping required to support claims to the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) is complete based on the area within the Rural Land Register and the estimate of the area still awaiting digitisation. A significant proportion of the area was digitised prior to the inception of the SPS, but in excess of 130,000 mapping requests to modify or increase digitised areas have been received since September 2004.

Waste Management

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received regarding the permissible annual amounts of biodegradable waste which can be disposed of in landfill sites by local authorities in Bedfordshire; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: A consultation on the provisional allocation of landfill allowances was held in August 2004. Bedfordshire county council responded expressing its' concerns that the allocation of landfill allowances did not take into account the above-average population growth in the Bedfordshire area.
	DEFRA officials will be meeting Milton Keynes council, Northamptonshire county council, Bedfordshire county council and Buckinghamshire county council, to discuss support to authorities with above-average population growth in January 2006.

Academies

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average time taken by her Department has been between receipt of a formal expression of interest for an academy and a decision being taken.

Jacqui Smith: The average time taken from final expression of interest to ministerial decision is about two months, subject to internal procedures.

Academies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what (a) research and (b) exemplar the proposals to create (i) academy and (ii) trust schools were based; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of such schools.

Jacqui Smith: The independent five-year evaluation of the Academies Programme undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that academies are overwhelmingly popular with both parents and pupils, and that academies have made a significant difference to the teaching and learning culture since the predecessor schools. The evaluation has also found clear evidence that sponsors are having a positive impact on academies by both establishing a positive vision and ethos for the new academies, and also by providing their expertise.
	Improvements in GCSE results are already in evidence, despite many pupils only having attended their academy for a few terms. Of the 14 academies open at the time of the last round of GCSE examinations, all but two showed an increase in the proportion of students achieving five grades A* to C relative to their predecessor schools, and the average annual increase in the number of students gaining five grades A* to C across all academies is 6 per cent. a year. Several academies have shown remarkable improvements in their GCSE results since opening. The City Academy in Bristol, for example, has shown an increase of 25 per cent. in the number of pupils achieving five grades A* to C in just two years. Four other academies have shown increases of greater than 20 per cent. since opening.
	The Government's proposals to establish trust schools represent an extension of the freedom to innovate to schools outside those areas currently being targeted by the academies programme. The creation of trust schools will assist in offering more and better choice and diversity in the schools system for parents and pupils. Trust schools will build on the long tradition of voluntary schools which are backed by trusts, and also on the successful experience of specialist schools and academies in working with sponsors from the voluntary, not-for-profit and private sectors. The success of specialist schools in their value-added performance is attested by research by Professor David Jesson, most recently his study: 'Educational outcomes and value added by specialist schools, 2004'.

Academies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are used for the geographical distribution of academies; what part her Department plays in this; on what basis, and by whom, the schools to be designated as academies are chosen; whether local authorities have any veto on the establishment of an academy; and how many of the academies are in areas where a better schools building programme has been authorised.

Jacqui Smith: Academies are situated in areas of deprivation and/or educational need. The main criteria for consideration of an Academy is for it to be sited in an area of historically weak educational performance and that the local authority area concerned is listed in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister statistics on deprivation. Other factors such as poor ratings by OFSTED and low admission numbers for predecessor schools are sometimes considered, but it is the academic under-achievement and deprivation that are of primary importance. Some Academies are being established in areas not considered as deprived overall but with particular enclaves of deprivation or low attainment.
	Local authorities have supported all Academy proposals to date through signing where appropriate the Expression of Interest (EOI) that formally establishes the project.
	DfES is responsible for: identifying potential Academy proposals; working with the responsible stakeholders to produce an EOI for establishing an Academy; assessing the viability of the proposal once an EOI has been received including consulting with stakeholders in the local area; co-ordinating the building process for the Academy, setting up the Trust that will govern the Academy; working with the Trust and the Sponsor to set up the educational vision and ethos of the school; organising for the Funding Agreement to be signed between the Secretary of State and the Trust to govern the Academy.
	All of the 27 open Academies are in areas where the Building Schools for the Future programme is running. A breakdown of which local authority is in which wave of the BSF programme can be found at http://www.bsf.gov.uk/documents/ in the document "Local Authority project by wave".

Annual Parents Meeting

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons her Department decided to remove the obligation on governing bodies to hold an annual parents' meeting.

Jacqui Smith: The purpose of the annual parents' meeting was to provide an opportunity for a discussion of the manner in which the school had been conducted, and of any other matters relating to the school raised by the parents. Many meetings were very poorly attended and, despite adopting various innovative strategies to improve turnout, it still proved difficult, in many schools, to generate enthusiasm for attending the meetings. The new school profile will give parents a broader and deeper understanding of what a school is doing. The removal of the requirement to hold an annual parents' meeting allows governors to manage their own relationship and communications with parents, to better reflect local circumstances, this may include choosing to hold a meeting.
	Removing the requirement to hold an annual parents' meeting also reduced the burden of legislative requirements on school governing bodies, granting greater freedom for school leadership to concentrate on continued improvements in performance.

Better Regulation Task Force

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress she has made on implementing the recommendations of the Better Regulation Task Force following its report of February 2004.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 15 December 2005
	Guidance has been given to local authorities that directors of Children's Services should have functions relating to child employment as part of their remit, as recommended by the Task Force. We are continuing to consider whether and to what extent the Task Force's other specific proposals can contribute to the key outcomes which we want to see for all children, as described in our Green Paper "Every Child Matters". In doing so, we will continue to be mindful of the need not to impose unnecessary burdens on employers or local authorities.

Departmental Costs

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) salary bill was and (b) administrative costs were for her Department in (i) each region and (ii) London in 2004–05.

Bill Rammell: The administration budgets regime overseen by the Treasury relates to Whitehall Departments only. How administration costs are controlled in the devolved Administrations is a matter for them. We do not monitor regional or central London administration costs separately.
	I refer you to the most recent Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm 6639) for provisional 2004–05 departmental administration costs outturn (£250 million) and the DfES Departmental Report (Cm 6522) which contains estimated 2004–05 pay bill outturn (£164 million).

Departmental Estate

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was paid by her Department in 2004–05 in rent for properties in (a) total, (b) each region and (c) London.

Maria Eagle: Details of how much was paid by the Department for Education and Skills in 2004–05 in rent for properties in (a) total, (b) each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK and (c) London is in the following table.
	
		Rent paid by DfES in 2004–05 £
		
			 Region Property Annual rent Annual VAT Annual total 
		
		
			 London Sanctuary Buildings 8,671,221 Nil 8,671,221 
			  Caxton House 8,174,500 1,430,538 9,605,038 
			  Westminster Suite 200,000 Nil 200,000 
			  Skyline House 322,997 56,525 379,522 
			  Bolton Street 3,765,000 Nil 3,765,000 
			  200 Great Dover Street 476,400 83,377 559,777 
			  12 Grosvenor Crescent 440,000 77,000 517,000 
			 Region total  22,050,118 1,647,440 23,697,558 
			  
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Maltravers Road Sheffield 21,000 3,675 24,675 
			  Moorgate House Rotherham 124,675 Nil 124,675 
			  Acorn Business Park Grimsby 15,500 2,712 18,212 
			  Albion Wharf York 280,724 49,127 329,851 
			  Fountain Hall Bradford 75,201 13,160 88,361 
			 Region total  517,100 68,674 585,774 
			  
			 North West Bayley House Bolton 62,300 10,902 73,202 
			  Atlas House Bolton 29,000 5,075 34,075 
			 Region total  91,300 15,977 107,277 
			  
			 South East Medway Annexe Sittingbourne 121,000 21,175 142,175 
			  Manorgate House 175,000 30,625 205,625 
			  Kingston upon Thames
			 Region total  296,000 51,800 347,800 
			  
			 East of England Wesley House Luton 94,500 Nil 94,500 
			  Ipswich Skillcentre 49,360 8,638 57,998 
			  Old Market Hall Wolverton 37,500 6,562 44,062 
			 Region Total  181,360 15,200 196,560 
			 West Midlands Brandon Court Coventry 128,600 22,505 151,105 
			  The Oaks Redditch 62,250 10,894 73,144 
			  Enterprise House Wolverhampton 89,750 15,933 105,683 
			  Wolverhampton Skillcentre 204,000 35,700 239,700 
			 Region Total  484,600 85,032 569,632 
			  
			 Total for England  23,620,478 1,884,123 25,504,601

Disabled People

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the initial activity undertaken by her Department in response to those recommendations in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Report Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People where lead responsibility was assigned to all Government Departments.

Maria Eagle: The Office for Disability Issues (ODI) will report annually to the Prime Minister on cross-Government progress in implementing the Strategy Unit report, "Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People". The first report is due to be published by summer 2006. A central unit in my Department is currently drawing together activities in response to the recommendations and will be liaising with the Department for Work and Pensions in drawing up the report, which will also include an assessment of the initial activity undertaken by Government Departments to fulfil the responsibilities they have outside of the ODI remit.

Education Model (Sweden)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what account she took of the Swedish education model when preparing the proposals in the White Paper Higher Standards, Better Schools for All.

Jacqui Smith: The proposals in the Schools White Paper, "Higher Standards better schools for All: More Choice for Parents and Pupils" are designed to meet the needs of schools In England. The proposals take into account developments since 1997, building on existing programmes such as the special schools and new approaches to leadership, federation and collaboration.
	There are significant differences between the Swedish model and the proposals for trust schools set out in the White Paper. Trust will not be able to make a profit and there will be no "right to supply" for promoters wishing to set up a new school.

Foster Carers (Abuse Allegations)

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance she (a) has issued and (b) plans to issue to (i) local authorities and (ii) other agencies on dealing with allegations of abuse against foster carers.

Maria Eagle: The Government takes the issue of allegations of abuse against all people working with children very seriously. Encouraging all organisations to have good systems and clear guidance in place forms a vital part of establishing safe environments for children and young people. Guidance about managing cases of allegations of abuse against all people who work with children will be set out in Chapter 4 and Appendix 4 of "Working Together to Safeguard Children" which we will publish early next year.
	In addition, we are currently funding the development of materials aimed at highlighting some of the specific issues around allegations against foster carers. These include an information leaflet to inform foster carers and others about the process for handling allegations, as well as training materials which are designed for use at the pre-and post-approval stages of foster carer training.

Free School Meals

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in (a) infant, (b) primary and (c) secondary schools in Dartford constituency (i) are eligible for and (ii) receive free school meals.

Jacqui Smith: The available information is shown in the table.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools(21): school meal arrangements(22) January 2005 Dartford parliamentary constituency
		
			  Number on roll Number of pupils taking free school meals(23) Percentage taking free school meals Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals 
		
		
			 Maintained primary 8,972 730 8.1 869 9.7 
			 Maintained secondary 7,032 332 4.7 481 6.8 
		
	
	(21) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(22) Includes solely and dually registered pupils and boarding pupils.
	(23) Based upon school level numbers of pupils who had a free school meal on 20 January 2005.
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

GCSEs

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the 50 schools with the lowest average GCSE scores; and which of these have received support from the London Challenge New Views programme.

Jacqui Smith: School level figures for 2005 are not available until the School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables are published in January 2006. The lowest 50 maintained mainstream schools by average uncapped point scores at GCSE and equivalent in 2004 are given in the following table. Hayes Manor (Hillingdon) and Mitcham Vale (Merton) schools have had the opportunity to benefit from the London Challenge New Views programme and are in italics in the table.
	
		Lowest 50 maintained mainstream schools by average uncapped GCSE point score(24)(25) in 2004
		
			 Institution(26) Local authority Number of 15-year-old pupils in reporting school year Average uncapped point score 
		
		
			 Manchester Academy Manchester 119 125.2 
			 Thamesbridge College Reading 82 136.1 
			 Rushall Community College Walsall 105 143.1 
			 New College Leicester Leicester 342 150.4 
			 East Brighton College of Media Arts Brighton and Hove 111 151.2 
			 Montgomery School Kent 54 161.1 
			 William Sharp School Nottingham 149 164.5 
			 The College High School Birmingham 217 166.3 
			 The Ridings School Calderdale 155 167.5 
			 The River Leen School Nottingham 136 171.6 
			 Endeavour High School Kingston Upon Hull 247 173.5 
			 Withywood Community School Bristol, City of 183 176.4 
			 The Ramsgate School Kent 123 179.4 
			 Kaskenmoor School Oldham 137 180.5 
			 Elliott Durham School Nottingham 97 181.6 
			 The Gateway Community College Thurrock 238 187.0 
			 Isaac Newton School Kingston Upon Hull 125 188.1 
			 The International School and Community College, East Birmingham Birmingham 238 188.1 
			 Henry Mellish Comprehensive School Nottingham 137 188.8 
			 Sir Henry Cooper School Kingston Upon Hull 174 189.2 
			 Langleywood School Slough 138 191.7 
			 Agnes Stewart Church of England Leeds 120 192.0 
			 Campion Catholic High School Liverpool 109 192.1 
			 The Thorpe Bay School Southend-on-Sea 127 192.6 
			 Ribbleton Hall High School Lancashire 103 193.1 
			 Parklands High School Manchester 148 193.1 
			 Belle Vue Boys' School Bradford 79 193.6 
			 The Hayes Manor School Hillingdon 113 193.9 
			 Kingswood High School Kingston Upon Hull 220 194.3 
			 Halton High School Halton 172 194.9 
			 Corby Community College Northamptonshire 142 195.1 
			 Unity City Academy Middlesbrough 241 195.4 
			 Kings Norton High School Birmingham 122 195.7 
			 Mitcham Vale School Merton 211 195.9 
			 Queen's Park Technology College Blackburn with Darwen 131 197.2 
			 Birkdale High School Kirklees 98 197.7 
			 The Newark High School Nottinghamshire 128 198.7 
			 Barstable School Essex 170 199.2 
			 South Halifax High School Calderdale 86 201.6 
			 Fazakerley High School Liverpool 127 201.8 
			 City of Leeds School Leeds 70 201.9 
			 St. Benedict's College Liverpool 137 202.4 
			 Woodway Park School and Community College Coventry 114 203.1 
			 John Smeaton Community High School Leeds 276 204.3 
			 Buttershaw High School Bradford 283 205.4 
			 Fairham Community College Nottingham 129 205.7 
			 The Alfred Barrow School Cumbria 110 206.5 
			 Riverside Community College Leicester 174 207.0 
			 Central Technology College(27) Gloucestershire 92 207.6 
			 Hengrove Community Arts College(27) Bristol, City of 215 207.6 
		
	
	(24) Average uncapped point score for pupils aged 15 at the beginning of the academic year (i.e. 31 * of August).
	(25) Figures for 2004 include GCSEs and other approved qualifications.
	(26) These figures include all maintained mainstream schools published in the Achievement and Attainment Tables with 30 or more pupils.
	(27) Central Technology College and Hengrove Community Arts College had the same average points score and both are therefore included in the table.

Higher Education

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of the relevant cohort in (a) Doncaster North, (b) Yorkshire and (c) England entered higher education in each year since 1995.

Bill Rammell: The latest available figures on participation by constituency and region were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January in "Young Participation in England", which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/ This shows participation rates for constituencies and region for the years 1997 to 2000, and these are shown in the table.
	
		Young participation rate (YPR (A)) Percentage
		
			  Year cohort aged 18 in: 
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Doncaster North(28) 14 15 14 13 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 25.6 24.6 25.2 25 
			 England 29.2 28.8 29.2 29.9 
		
	
	(28) Figures for constituencies are reported to the nearest whole number.
	Source:
	Higher Education Funding Council for England.
	The Department uses the higher education initial participation rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 18–30 in higher education towards 50 per cent: the latest provisional figure for 2003–04 is 43 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at constituency level.

Nurseries (Child Abuse)

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what procedures are in place to help nursery workers report confidentially suspected child abuse perpetrated by others working in the same place of work.

Maria Eagle: Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children are fundamental duties for maintained nursery schools and private and independent nurseries. Providers are required to comply with local child protection procedures and to have a written statement of the arrangements in place for the protection of children. The statement must state staff responsibilities for child protection and include procedures to be followed in the event of allegations being made against a member of staff or volunteer. The statement should be based on the procedures laid out in the Government booklet "What to do if You're Worried a Child Is Being Abused—Summary". This booklet lays out clearly the circumstances when information about child abuse should be passed on to the relevant authorities in confidence.

Personal, Social and Health Education

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  if she will make personal social and health education a statutory subject in all primary and secondary schools in England;
	(2)  which recommendations made in the Personal, Social and Health Education in Schools: Time for Action report compiled by the Government's independent advisory groups on sexual health and teenage pregnancy she plans to implement;
	(3)  if she will ensure that sex education is taught as a compulsory subject in all faith-affiliated primary and secondary schools.

Jacqui Smith: There are no plans to make Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) statutory. The Government's focus is on improving the quality of PSHE teaching. Over the last three years we have funded the PSHE certificate, a continuing professional development programme which sets standards for the teaching of PSHE. Over 2,000 teachers have already gained certification and a further 1,800 teachers are undertaking the programme this year. We have also worked with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to produce new teaching and learning materials and assessment guidance for PSHE. We have also produced a DVD resource for teachers, "PSHE into Practice", which will support teachers' professional development in PSHE.
	The Government normally responds to the annual report of the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, which comments on and makes recommendations for the further development of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. The yet unpublished report 'Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) in schools: Time for Action' is a separate, ad-hoc report. When it is published the Government will consider its recommendations, but does not intend to publish a formal response.
	All maintained schools, including those with a religious designation, are required to deliver the statutory elements of sex education, as set out in the National Curriculum Science Order, at primary and secondary levels. The DfES further recommends that all maintained schools use the PSHE framework to expand their provision and deliver a planned programme of SRE appropriate to the age, maturity and needs of pupils. This should be developed in consultation with the Governing Body and parents.

Private Members Bills

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list those Private Members' Bills introduced under (a) Standing Order No. 14(6), (b) Standing Order No. 23 and (c) Standing Order No. 57 which were (i) supported and (ii) opposed by her Department in each session since 1997–98.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is not collected.

Public Relations

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the value was of (a) public opinion research and (b) public relations contracts awarded by her Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London in 2004–05.

Bill Rammell: In 2004–05 the Department for Education and Skills commissioned public opinion research worth £65,521. This research was on education and skills issues and formed part of the British Social Attitudes Survey, covering Scotland, Wales and all English regions (including London).
	The Department also carries out a range of research to inform the development and evaluation of specific policies, some of which includes surveys of opinion. The Department publishes its research on the last Thursday of each month and research reports are available at www.dfes.gov.uk/research. The Department also awarded public relations contracts worth £695,324. The contracts covered campaigns to promote higher education (the "Aimhigher" campaign) and Foundation Degrees, as well as campaigns to tackle bullying and teenage pregnancy. These campaigns covered England (including London).

Qualifications

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of working age people in (a) Kettering constituency and (b) England hold a qualification at (i) degree level or equivalent and (ii) above degree level.

Bill Rammell: The following table shows analysis of the qualification levels of the working age population in Kettering constituency and England at degree level (level 4) and above degree level (level 5). This is presented alongside East Midlands data for comparison. Data comes from the Local Labour Force Survey for 2004–05.
	
		Table 1: Proportion of the working age population holding a level 4/level 5 qualification, as their highest qualification held
		
			  Level 4 Level 5 
		
		
			 Kettering 16.0 4.0 
			 East Midlands 19.3 4.2 
			 England 20.8 5.3 
		
	
	Note:
	The working age population is defined as males and females aged 16–64 and 16–59 respectively.
	Source:
	Local Labour Force Survey for 2004–05

Rates

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was paid by her Department in rates to each local authority in 2004–05; and how much was paid in (a) each region and (b) London in each year.

Bill Rammell: The following table lists how much was paid by the Department for Education and Skills in rates to each local authority in the UK in 2004–05; and paid in (a) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (b) London.
	
		Rates paid by DfES in 2004–05 £
		
			 GO Region Local authority Amount Totals 
		
		
			 London City of Westminster 4,279,327  
			  London borough of Southwark 8,119  
			 London region   4,287,446 
			 
			 North East Darlington borough council 198,008  
			 N. E. region   198,008 
			 
			 North West Halton borough council 356,208  
			 N.W. region   356,208 
			 
			 East of England Luton borough council 10,260  
			  Peterborough city council 4,694  
			 E.E. region   14,954 
			 
			 Yorks and Humber Rotherham MBC 24,919  
			  Sheffield city council 825,679  
			 Y and H region   850,598 
			 Total   5,707,214

School Governors

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacancies there were for (a) parent governors and (b) school governors in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: Data on the number of governor vacancies is not routinely collected by the Department. However, individual local authorities may collect and hold their own information on the number of governor vacancies.

School Governors

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment her Department has made of the causes of variations (a) between regions and (b) within regions in vacancies for school governors.

Jacqui Smith: Data on the number of governor vacancies is not routinely collected by the Department. However, individual local authorities may collect and hold their own information on the number of governor vacancies. No assessment has been made of the causes of the regional variation and variations between areas in vacancies for school governors.

School Meals

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the schools in the Stroud constituency which (a) have and (b) do not have their own kitchens, broken down by type of school.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 15 December 2005
	The school premises data that my Department receives from authorities identifies numbers of kitchen/dining spaces in each school that are considered by authorities and schools to be lacking or unsuitable, but kitchens are not separately identified.

School Meals

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the schools in Kettering constituency which (a) have and (b) do not have their own kitchens, broken down by type of school; and how many pupils attend each school.

Jacqui Smith: The school premises data that my Department receives from authorities identifies numbers of kitchen/dining spaces in each school that are considered by authorities and schools to be lacking or unsuitable, but kitchens are not separately identified.

School Science

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps are being taken to encourage more pupils to study (a) physics, (b) chemistry and (c) mathematics at A level.

Jacqui Smith: The Government's recent 14–19 Education and Skills White Paper reaffirms our commitment, as outlined in the 10-year Science and Innovation Investment Framework and our response to Professor Smith's inquiry into post-14 mathematics education, to encourage more young people to study physics, chemistry and mathematics at A level. We are taking this forward by improving teaching and learning across all school phases by:
	introducing a newly structured A level, for first teaching from September 2004, making AS/A level mathematics more flexible and manageable;
	introducing a new programme of study for science at key stage 4, leading to new GCSEs. The new programme maintains the breadth, depth and challenge of the current curriculum, while catering for a wide range of young people's interests and aptitudes which will ensure that the science taught in schools inspires young people to pursue further study;
	developing a new two tier mathematics GCSE so that all young people have the opportunity to achieve a grade C;
	asking QCA to develop and test a new curriculum and assessment model for mathematics from entry level to level 3 which will incorporate changes resulting from work that QCA has been doing in response to recommendations in the Smith report;
	renewing and updating the Primary National Strategy framework for the teaching of mathematics, to ensure that it supports schools and settings to raise attainment still further;
	reviewing science and mathematics at key stage 3, especially in relation to the new science programme at key stage 4 and the review of the Primary National Strategy;
	providing innovative and exciting continuing professional development for teachers and technicians through the national network of science learning centres;
	establishing a National Centre for Excellence in the teaching of mathematics, that will develop a continuing professional development framework for mathematics teachers and quality assure mathematics continuing professional development programmes;
	introducing, from September 2004, a framework for the teaching and learning of mathematics in post-16 education;
	agreeing to the expansion of the Mathematics in Education and Industry project with a view to establishing a network of centres to improve take-up and teaching of GCE further mathematics;
	improving teacher recruitment in science and mathematics by increasing the value of the teacher training bursaries for science and mathematics graduates and 'golden hellos' for new science and mathematics teachers;
	piloting courses designed to enhance subject knowledge of those who wish to do initial teacher training in physics, chemistry or mathematics but who do not have the necessary subject knowledge.

School Sports

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage children to participate in sport in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are jointly implementing the national school sport strategy in England. In the five years to 2008 over 1.5 billion is being invested (including 686 million lottery funding) to implement the strategy. Spearheading action is the creation of a national network of sports colleges and school sport partnerships across England. To date, 80 per cent. of schools in England are already part of one of the 411 live partnerships and all schools will be within one by 2006.
	The strategy is delivering an ambitious public service agreement target to increase the percentage of 5 to 16-year-olds who spend a minimum of two hours a week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006 and then 85 per cent. by 2008. The long-term ambition, by 2010, is to offer all children at least four hours of sport every week.
	Good progress is being made and we are on track to deliver the target. The 2004/05 school sport survey results found that overall, 69 per cent. of pupils in the 11,498 schools involved, were participating in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport a week. In 2003/04 this figure was 62 per cent.
	Of course my hon. Friend would know that the issue of PE and sport in schools in Wales is a devolved matter.

Schools (Energy Provision)

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools are fitted with (a) solar panels, (b) photovoltaic roof tiles, (c) micro combined heat and power and (d) micro generation technologies.

Jacqui Smith: My Department does not hold data on numbers of schools with solar panels, photovoltaic roof tiles, micro combined heat and power, or micro generation technologies. 184 schools have been helped from the microgeneration funding programmes administered by the Department of Trade and Industry. In supporting the expansion of the microgeneration sector, the Government places particular emphasise on renewable energy technology in school buildings.

Schools (Gravesham)

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of whether the funding increase for schools in Gravesham will ensure that all the schools will be able to fulfil the planning, preparation and assessment initiative.

Jacqui Smith: We estimate that the full year costs of implementing the final phase of workforce reform from September 2005, including guaranteed time for planning, preparation and assessment for all teachers, will create an average pressure of 0.7 per cent. on the budgets of nursery and primary schools for 200607, on top of the 1 per cent. we allowed for in 200506. We have added that to our estimate of the universal, average cost pressures on schools in 200607 to give nursery and primary schools a guaranteed minimum increase in their core budgets of 4 per cent. per pupil next year. And we have earmarked 70 million within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) to enable local authorities to meet the cost of the higher guarantee for nursery and primary schools. This funding will be consolidated into the DSG baseline for 200708.

Schools White Paper

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether (a) pupil referral units and (b) special schools will be able to apply for trust status under the proposals in the Schools White Paper.

Jacqui Smith: The White Paper does not propose arrangements to allow pupil referral units to become eligible to apply for trust status.
	For special schools, the White Paper acknowledges that trust status for special schools raises a number of complex issues. We will continue to work with schools and other partners to decide the best way forward.

Surplus School Places

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether her Department has plans to fund surplus school places under the proposals in the Schools White Paper.

Jacqui Smith: Local authorities are responsible for planning school places in their area. They have a duty to ensure that there are sufficient places to meet the needs of the local community and must also ensure that high quality education is provided in a cost-effective way.
	Where schools expand or new schools are created to meet parental demand we expect local authorities to act decisively to remove surplus places in schools which are not popular with parents and to ensure educational resources are used in the most efficient way possible. This year, we are allocating over 5.5 billion of capital funding to schools and authorities. This funding can support focal school reorganisation, including those directed to the removal of surplus places.
	Building Schools for the Future aims to renew all secondary schools over 15 waves of investment starting from this year. When authorities are prioritised in this programme, they must develop a strong strategic vision for the delivery of secondary education in their area. Additional funding for primary schools has been announced from 200809. Further details of this programme will be announced next year.

Trust Schools

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the legal duties and responsibilities of governors of trust schools will be under the proposals in the Schools White Paper.

Jacqui Smith: Under the proposals contained in the Higher Standards, Better Schools For All White Paper, the duties and responsibilities of governing bodies of trust schools will be the same as those of the governing bodies of foundation schools.
	The governing body of trust schools will, as do all governing bodies of maintained schools, have a legal duty to conduct the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement. Their responsibilities include setting the strategic direction, objectives, targets and policies for the school, approving the school budget and reviewing progress against the budget, plans and targets, acting as a critical friend to the head teacher by providing support and challenge and appointing the head teacher. Governing bodies in trust schools will also employ their staff and be their own admissions authority, this is the same as in voluntary aided and foundation schools.

University Entrants

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils from (a) the Forest of Dean constituency and (b) Gloucestershire went on to university in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The latest available figures on participation by constituency and region were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January in Young Participation in England, which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/. This shows participation rates for constituencies and region for the years 1997 to 2000, and these are shown in the table.
	
		Young participation rate (YPR(A)) Percentage
		
			 Year cohort aged 18 in: Forest of Dean Gloucestershire 
		
		
			 1997 33 36 
			 1998 32 34 
			 1999 28 33 
			 2000 33 35 
		
	
	Source:
	Higher Education Funding Council for England.
	The Department uses the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 1830 in higher education towards 50 per cent.: the latest provisional figure for 2003/04 is 43 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at constituency level.

Volunteering

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to promote the involvement of young people in volunteering.

Maria Eagle: The Youth Green Paper Youth Matters sets out a number of broad areas of activity designed to encourage young people to volunteer and contribute to their community. It aims to test out more varied approaches to volunteering, in line with the Russell Commission's recommendations.
	This includes, for example, expanding peer mentoring. The Chancellor has recently announced in his pre-Budget report a new investment aimed at introducing and evaluating more structured and formalised approaches to peer mentoring in schools. We will also be promoting more active citizenship approaches in schools, further and higher education and more volunteering in public services. We are building on the experience of Millennium Volunteers and the Young Volunteer Challenge to develop more flexible approaches to volunteering and to expand longer term volunteering opportunities.

Asbestos

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the terms of reference were for the research carried out by the Health and Safety Executive in relation to the risks of exposure to asbestos when removing textured coatings; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The aim of study HSL/2005/32 An investigation into the airborne fibre releases during the removal of textured coatings from domestic premises, commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive from the Health and Safety Laboratory, was to measure the airborne fibre and asbestos concentrations released during the removal and repair of damaged chrysotile containing textured coatings, at some 40 sites.

Benefits

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of people aged over 60 years are receiving housing benefit and/or council tax benefit (a) with pension credit and (b) without pension credit.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The available information is in the following tables.
	
		Housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB) recipients aged 60 and over and pension credit (PC) recipients: May 2005
		
			  HB CTB PC 
			  Caseload Percentage population Caseload Percentage population Caseload Percentage population 
		
		
			 Great Britain 1,518,100 12.4 2,444,500 19.9 2,680,200 21.8 
		
	
	
		Housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB) recipients aged 60 and over also in receipt of pension credit (PC):May 2005
		
			  HB(33) and PC CTB(33) and PC 
			  Caseload Percentage population Caseload Percentage population 
		
		
			 Great Britain 1,237,500 10.1 1,972,100 16.1 
		
	
	(33) Figures may include a small number of men aged 60 to 64 in receipt of income-based jobseekers allowance.
	Notes:
	1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	2. Caseloads have been rounded to the nearest hundred and percentages have been given to one decimal place.
	3. For HB/CTB, figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
	4. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
	5. Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
	6. Pension credit replaced MIG on 6 October 2003 and extended IS entitlement to customers aged 60 plus.
	7. Countries are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	8. Population percentages have been calculated using 2004 ONS mid-year population estimates.
	9. 'Aged 60 and over' is defined as benefit units where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 and over. Therefore figures will contain some claimants aged under 60 where there is a partner aged over 60 years.
	10. Percentages of the population are based on the population aged 60 plus.
	Sources:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in May 2005.
	DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS).
	Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-2004 population estimates.

Buncefield Oil Depot

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the Health and Safety Executive reports relating to the improvement notice, and subsequent compliance, served against British Pipeline Agency Ltd. at the Buncefield Terminal.

Anne McGuire: Yes, copies of the relevant extracts of documents will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
	Details of the improvement notice in question is already available on HSE's website.

Buncefield Oil Depot

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the Health and Safety Executive guidance relating to safety and security in fuel depots.

Anne McGuire: Copies of the written relevant guidance document is already publicly available, but will place a copy in the Library.

Buncefield Oil Depot

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance the Government have given to emergency planning authorities with regard to safety and security in and near fuel depots.

Anne McGuire: Sites which store or use large quantities of flammable substances such as fuels are subject to the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH).
	Guidance on emergency planning for sites subject to the COMAH Regulations (Emergency Planning for Major Accidents, HSG191) has been issued by the Health and Safety Executive in its role as joint Competent Authority. More general guidance on the COMAH regulations, which includes further advice on emergency planning, has also been published by HSE (A Guide to the Control of Major Accident Hazards regulations 1999, L111). The Cabinet Office has also prepared guidance on dealing with major emergencies (Dealing With Disaster, ISBN 185 893 9208).

Carers Allowance

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he takes to ascertain whether persons claiming carers' allowance (a) as live-in carers are carers or cohabitees and (b) are capable of and competent to act as carers, and are acting as such.

Anne McGuire: The administration of carer's allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 19 December 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he takes to ascertain whether persons claiming carers allowance (a) as live-in carers are carers or cohabitees and (b) are capable of and competent to act as carers and are acting as such.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	To be entitled to Carer's Allowance (CA) a customer must be regularly and substantially caring for a severely disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. All customers who claim CA are required to sign a statement confirming that they do that.
	The conditions of entitlement for CA do not specify that the carer must live with the disabled person therefore no checks are carried out on this when claims for CA are received.
	From 5th December 2005, CA claim packs contain a statement that allows the disabled person, or someone acting on their behalf, to acknowledge that someone is claiming CA for caring for them, to confirm whether 35 hours caring is taking place, to acknowledge that their benefits may be affected by the CA claim, and to understand that their Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance records will be checked in order to process the CA claim.
	The disabled person, or someone acting on their behalf, must sign the statement before the claim to CA is processed.
	I hope this is helpful.

Carers Allowance

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Leeds West constituency have been in receipt of the carer's allowance in each year since it was introduced.

Anne McGuire: The administration of carer's allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 19 December 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the Leeds West constituency have been in receipt of the carer's allowance in each year since it was introduced.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information available is in the following table:
	
		Carer's allowance cases in receipt of payment for Leeds West parliamentary constituency Thousand
		
			 May Cases in payment 
		
		
			 2005 0.6 
			 2004 0.6 
			 2003 0.6 
			 2002 0.5 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Definitions and conventions: - nil or negligible; . not applicable; caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and displayed in thousands; Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Caseloads at parliamentary constituency level are not available previous to the dates shown.
	3. Caseload (thousands): Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study and DWP 100 per cent. Data.
	I hope this is helpful.

Carers Allowance

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Tamworth constituency have been in receipt of the carer's allowance in each year since it was introduced.

Anne McGuire: The administration of carer's allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the disability and carers service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 19 December 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the Tamworth constituency have been in receipt of the carer's allowance in each year since it was introduced.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information available is in the following table:
	
		Carer's allowance cases in receipt of payment for Tamworth parliamentary constituency Thousand
		
			  Cases in payment 
		
		
			 May  
			 2005 0.8 
			 2004 0.8 
			 2003 0.8 
			 2002 0.8 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Definitions and Conventions: - Nil or Negligible; . Not applicable; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and displayed in thousands; Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Caseloads at parliamentary constituency level are not available previous to the dates shown.
	3. Caseload (Thousand): Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study and DWP 100 per cent. Data.
	I hope this is helpful.

Child Poverty

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of housing costs on child poverty; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in Households Below Average Income 1994/952003/04. The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income. Figures are provided for children based on distributions sourced from the Family Resources Survey using two definitions of net disposable income. One uses a concept before, and one after, housing costs have been deducted from household income. Housing costs include rent, mortgage interest payments, water rates or water charges, structural insurance, ground rent and service charges.
	However, poverty is about more than low income. It is also about health, education, housing and the quality of the environment. The seventh annual Opportunity for all report, published recently, sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this.
	Housing is an important part of the Government's strategy on poverty and social exclusion. Opportunity for All monitors the proportion of children in non-decent homes, and also includes an indicator monitoring the proportion of families with children in temporary accommodation.
	The document 'Measuring child poverty' published in December 2003 outlines the Government's measure of UK child poverty for the long-term. This includes a material deprivation measure which will capture children in families with high unavoidable costs, such as housing costs or childcare, which can adversely impact on living standards and leave people with low disposable incomes. Because it incorporates a newhigherrelative income line it will count some children as in poverty for the first time. The quality of housing will be directly measured as part of the material deprivation indicators, and will include housing that is poorly repaired, overcrowded or cold.
	Copies of all documents are available in the Library.

Disability and Carers Service

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the national targets are for the disability and carers service; and what the performance of offices in South Devon is in relation to those targets.

Anne McGuire: The administration of disability and carers service is a matter for the chief executive of that agency, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 19 December 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the national targets are for the Disability and Carers Service; and if he will publish the performance of offices in South Devon in relation to those targets.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information available on DCS national targets for 20052006 is in the following table:
	
		
			 Event National targets 200506 
		
		
			 DLA Normal Rules Claims 39 
			 DLA Reconsiderations 35 
			 DLA Appeals 37 
			 DLA Decision Maker Accuracy 90% 
			 AA Normal Rules Claims 22 
			 AA Reconsiderations 35 
			 AA Appeals 35 
			 AA Decision Maker Accuracy 90% 
			 CA Claims 22 
			 CA Appeals 35 
			 CA Decision Maker Accuracy 96% 
		
	
	Note:
	For DLA/AA Claims, Reconsiderations, Appeals and CA Claims and Appeals the national target is an Actual Average Clearance Target (AACT), given in working days. The AACT is calculated by, adding up the total cumulative days taken to clear all cases and dividing this by the total number of cases cleared.
	No AACT data is available specifically for the South Devon area. However, the information in the table below provides the year-to-date (YTD) performance, against the national targets, for Bristol Disability Benefits Centre (DBC).
	
		
			 Event Bristol DBC YTD AACT 
		
		
			 DLA Normal Rules New Claims 34.4 
			 DLA Reconsiderations 26.4 
			 DLA Appeals 25.6 
			 AA Normal Rules New Claims 20.7 
			 AA Reconsiderations 24.1 
			 AA Appeals 25.6 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Bristol DBC deals with the whole of South West of England from Gloucester in the north, Swindon and Bournemouth to the east, through to the Isle of Scilly.
	2. Decision Maker accuracy is only reported at national level.
	The DCS does not publish performance figures for offices in South Devon, as there are no DCS offices in the South Devon area. The performance against targets for Bristol DBC is available in its Customer Service reception area. Overall DCS performance against targets is reported in the 'DCS Annual Report and Accounts' that is available in the Libraries of both Houses.
	I hope this is helpful.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2005, Official Report, column 2252W, on disability living allowance, how many recipients of (a) highest rate care component and (b) middle rate care component are also in receipt of the higher rate mobility component, broken down by region.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 12 December 2005
	The requested information is in the table.
	
		Disability living allowance: numbers of recipients of (a) the highest rate care component and the higher rate mobility component; and (b) the middle rate care component and the higher rate mobility component in Great Britain at 31 May 2005 by Government office region
		
			 Government office region Highest rate care component and higher rate mobility component Middle care component and higher rate mobility component 
		
		
			 North East 24.1 22.6 
			 North West 68.6 68.6 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 41.4 38.4 
			 East Midlands 31.5 28.3 
			 West Midlands 43.0 38.2 
			 East 31.9 28.3 
			 London 45.1 37.5 
			 South East 40.0 35.2 
			 South West 30.2 29.6 
			 Wales 39.1 32.0 
			 Scotland 51.6 49.1 
			 Unknown 0.3 0.4 
			 Total 446.3 408.3 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are in thousands, rounded to the nearest hundred, and exclude cases where payment of the allowance is suspended; for example, because the recipient has been a NHS hospital in-patient for more than four weeks. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Postcodes are used to allocate recipients to the relevant Government office region. The figures shown against Unknown are those for cases where the postcode is incomplete.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Gas Industry Levy

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with (a) Ofgem, (b) the Health and Safety Commission and (c) the Council of Registered Gas Installers on the proposals from the Health and Safety Commission in 2000 for a levy on the gas industry to fund (i) a watchdog to promote carbon monoxide awareness and (ii) equipment for gas emergency services to test for carbon monoxide; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: None. However, my noble friend the Lord Hunt is due to meet both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and CORGI early next year when these issues are on the agenda.
	The Health and Safety Commission's Fundamental Review of Gas Safety in 2000 recommended a levy on the gas industry for research and publicity, not specifically for a watchdog to promote carbon monoxide awareness.

Household Poverty

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of households were in poverty (a) before housing costs and (b) after housing costs in the most recent year for which figures are available; and how many in each case were (i) local authority tenants, (ii) housing association tenants, (iii) private tenants, (iv) owner occupiers with a mortgage and (v) those who own outright.

Margaret Hodge: Poverty is about more than low income. It is also about health, housing, education and the quality of the environment. The seventh annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 6239), published in October 2005, sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy .
	Specific information regarding individuals living in low income households is available in Households Below Average Income 1994/952003/04, available in the Library. The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting low income.
	Information on the percentage of households in relative low income, and the number of households in low income by tenure type is presented in the following table for 200304. A relative low income household is defined here as a household with income below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income.
	
		
			  Before housing costs After housing costs 
		
		
			 Percentage of households in low income 17 21 
			
			 Number of households in low income by tenure type 
			 (i) local authority tenants 800,000 1,300,000 
			 (ii) housing association tenants 400,000 800,000 
			 (iii) private tenants 400,000 800,000 
			 (iv) owned with a mortgage 800,000 1,000,000 
			 (v) owned outright 1,700,000 1,200,000 
			 (vi) other 100,000 100,000 
			 Total number of households in low income 4,300,000 5,200,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Tables show percentages rounded to the nearest percentage point, and numbers rounded to the nearest 100,000.
	2. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Industrial Injuries Benefit

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of expenditure by his Department on industrial injuries benefit for each year from 199091 to 200607; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The information is in the table.
	
		Expenditure on industrial injuries benefits since 1990
		
			  Status Nominal terms Real terms, 200506 prices 
		
		
			 199091 Outturn 584 877 
			 199192 Outturn 655 927 
			 199293 Outturn 668 916 
			 199394 Outturn 686 918 
			 199495 Outturn 707 931 
			 199596 Outturn 731 937 
			 199697 Outturn 743 920 
			 199798 Outturn 747 898 
			 199899 Outturn 761 892 
			 19992000 Outturn 753 866 
			 200001 Outturn 759 861 
			 200102 Outturn 778 862 
			 200203 Outturn 783 840 
			 200304 Outturn 783 819 
			 200405 Estimated 795 814 
			 200506 Planned 803 803 
			 200607 Planned 801 782 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are for Great Britain
	2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest  million.
	3. Figures for real terms are based on 200506 prices.
	4. The industrial injuries benefits expenditure quoted is a total of industrial injuries disablement benefit, industrial death benefit, and other industrial injuries benefits.
	5. Expenditure information is published on the Department's internet website at the following addresshttp://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp. The information in the internet tables has recently been updated, following the pre-Budget report 2005, and is therefore consistent with the pre-Budget report.
	Source:
	Expenditure figures have been taken from the DWP Expenditure Tables (Tables 3, 3a, 4, and 4a).

Jobcentre Plus

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how Jobcentre Plus has performed against its customer service targets in each year since 2001.

Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 19 December 2005
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning how Jobcentre Plus has performed against its customer service targets in each year since 2001. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus was created in April 2002 bringing together the former Employment Service and those parts of the former Benefits Agency delivering services to working age people.
	Jobcentre Plus's performance against its targets is published each year in our Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which can be found in the House of Commons Library. Performance against our Customer Service Target for the last three operational years and current operational year is in the table below.
	For the operational year 2004/05, social security offices were included in the data capture process for the Customer Service Target. These offices had not previously been assessed under the Mystery Shopper component of the target. There were training initiatives underway at the time to up skill the staff. This was against a background of reducing headcount and the continued rollout. The expected progress on rollout was not achieved in 2004/05, and therefore the target achievement level was not upgraded in 2005/06.
	
		Customer service Percentage
		
			  Target Achievement 
		
		
			 200203 79 85 
			 200304 83 83.4 
			 200405 81 83.2 
			 200506 81 84.8 
		
	
	Note:
	For 200506 the performance achieved is up to end of September 2005.
	I hope this is helpful.

National Insurance Contributions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by how many years qualifying national insurance contributions would have to be reduced in order that 90 per cent. of newly retired women would receive a full basic state pension in their own right.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available in the form requested.
	Home responsibilities protection (HRP) reduces the number of qualifying years needed for a full basic state pension by up to half, so the precise number of years an individual requires will vary according to the number of years of HRP awarded. However, departmental administrative data indicates that if a full basic state pension were paid to those who have the equivalent of at least 10 qualifying years, approximately 85 per cent. of newly retired women in March 2005 might receive the full basic pension. This may overestimate the reduction in qualifying years needed for a particular proportion of newly retired women to receive a full BSP in their own right, due to the way in which HRP interacts with qualifying years.
	Women's basic state pension records are continuing to improve with the combined effect of increased labour market participation and HRP, so in the future a much more modest reduction in qualifying years might be needed to achieve the same outcome. We estimate on the basis of the current system that by 2025 men and women reaching age 65 will have similar basic state pension entitlements.
	Notes:
	1. The answer is based on 200405 departmental administrative data which provides information about the amount of basic state pension (BSP) in payment. 2. The answer includes an approximation of the proportion of women at state pension age in March 2005 who made a late claim or deferred their state pension entitlement. 3. Currently women normally need 39 qualifying years for a full BSP and 10 qualifying years to get the minimum BSP, at least one year must derive from paid NICs. In 2020, when SPA for women is raised to age 65, the number of qualifying years for women will equalise with men, increasing to 44 for the full BSP and 11 qualifying years for the minimum BSP (which is 25 per cent. of the required qualifying years for a full BSP over a person's working life). The administrative data does not hold information on the entitlements of those who fail to qualify for the minimum BSP. 4. The figure is based on those women with the equivalent of 10 or more qualifying years. This includes women who have at least 10 qualifying years from paid Nl contributions, or a combination of contributions and Nl credits as well as women who have some home responsibilities protection HRP on their record. For example, a women with 19 years of HRP and 5 years of paid contributions is entitled to the same amount of BSP as a person with 10 years of paid contributions only. 5. The data set does not break down how the BSP is accrued (for example the number of years of paid contributions, credits or HRP). For this reason, the answer should be treated as approximate only. 6. The answer is based on women aged 60 in March 2005 resident in Great Britain.

Pathways to Work

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) aged over 50 and (b) aged under 50 (i) joined Pathways to Work, (ii) subsequently found work, (iii) joined New Deal for Disabled People (excluding people in Pathways to Work pilot areas) and (iv) subsequently found work (excluding people in Pathways to Work pilot areas) in the last year for which figures are available.

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is in the tables.
	
		Number of people who have joined Pathways to Work between September 2004 and August 2005
		
			  Number of individuals starting Pathways to Work Number who subsequently found work 
		
		
			 Aged 50 and over 21,530 1,640 
			 Aged under 50 58,460 5,620 
			 Age not known 3,670 830 
			 Total 83,660 8,090 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data is to the end of August 2005.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	Pathways to Work Evaluation Database
	
		Starts to New Deal for Disabled People (excluding people in Pathways to Work pilot areas) between September 2004 and August 2005
		
			  Number who started NDDP between September 2004 and August 2005, inclusive Number who subsequently found a job through NDDP 
		
		
			 Aged 1 849 years 39,980 13,170 
			 Aged 50+ years 13,950 4,800 
			 Total 54,020 17,990 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data is to the end of August 2005.
	2. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	3. Totals include people for whom age is not recorded. Because of this, and due to rounding, components will not necessarily sum to totals.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, DWP, 2005

Pension Reform

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes in public expenditure he expects to arise as a result of the state retirement pension age for women rising to 65 years.

Stephen Timms: The Government's long-term projections of benefit spending following the pre-Budget report of 5 December give total United Kingdom benefit spending on pensioners as 104.1 billion in 2020 compared with 77.3 billion in 2005. All figures are given in 200506 prices.
	If women's state pension age were to remain at 60, then benefit expenditure on pensioners would be 13.7 billion higher. This saving is offset by extra costs of 3.5 billion on benefits for those of working age. Hence the change of the state retirement pension age to 65 years for women, with associated rises in the qualifying age for benefits such as pension credit or winter fuel payments, is expected to lead to a net saving in benefit expenditure of 10.1 billion in the year 2020 (figures do not sum exactly due to rounding).

Pensioners

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of pensioners receive (a) a contracted-out pension and (b) SERPS or S2P; and what estimate he has made of the average amount received by these pensioners.

Stephen Timms: Information on the numbers and amounts of contracted-out pensions is not available. The only available information relates to deductions from additional State Pension in respect of periods of contracting-out from SERPS prior to April 1997.
	The total number of people receiving an additional State Pension which is subject to a contracted-out deduction is over 4 million representing 37.6 per cent. of all people receiving State Pension.
	The total number of people receiving an additional State Pension under SERPS and/or S2P is just over 7 million representing around 61 per cent. of all people receiving State Pension. For those in receipt of additional State Pension the weekly average amount is 18.80.
	Notes:
	1. Data is taken from 5 per cent. extract of Pension Service Computer System as at 31 March 2005, therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall February caseload from the WPLS. 2. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest million. 3. Amounts are rounded to the nearest 10p.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data and 5 per cent. samples.

Poverty

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) of 21 November 2005, Official Report, columns 168286W, on poverty, if he will break down the information by (a) region and (b) county.

Margaret Hodge: Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in Households Below Average Income (HBAI) 1994/952003/04, available in the Library. The threshold of below 60 per cent. of median household income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income.
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust estimates below regional level. Estimates at a regional level can be provided using data from 1994/95.
	Information on the number of children living in relative low income for Scotland, Wales and by Government Office Region from 199495 onwards has been placed in the Library.
	The figures are for absolute and relative incomes. Absolute low income is defined here for individuals as living in a household with income below 60 per cent. of 199697 median income which has been adjusted for inflation. Relative low income is defined here for individuals as living in a household with income below 60 per cent. of contemporary median.

Winter Fuel Payment

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioner households are eligible for the winter fuel allowance in Lancashire.

Stephen Timms: Last winter there were 175,150 pensioner households in Lancashire that received a winter fuel payment. We expect the number to be similar for this winter.
	Notes
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5. 2. Any residence found to have four or more occupants is not included in these figures as it is assumed to be a Residential Care or Nursing Home. 3. Local authorities and parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	Source
	Information Directorate, 100 per cent. sample.

Winter Fuel Payment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of pensioner householders in Wakefield district who are eligible for assistance with winter fuel payments.

Stephen Timms: It is not possible to provide an estimate of the number of pensioner householders who are eligible for a winter fuel payment. Last winter 62,010 householders in the Wakefield local authority received a winter fuel payment. We would expect the number to be similar for this winter. The figures for winter 200405 are also available in the Library.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five. 2. Local authorities and parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 100 per cent. sample

Working Neighbourhood Pilot

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the payments agreed by his Department to each private contractor for the Working Neighbourhood Pilot.

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is in the tables.
	
		1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 
		
			 Event JSA and anybody not working excluding lone parents, incapacity benefit, income support and severe disability allowance clients Lone parents, incapacity benefit, income support and severe disability allowance clients 
		
		
			 Engagement 300 853 
			 Job entry 1,370 2,500 
			 Job retention for 13 weeks 2,600 5,550 
		
	
	
		1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 
		
			 Event JSA and anybody not working excluding lone parents, incapacity benefit, income support and severe disability allowance clients Lone parents, incapacity benefit, income support and severe disability allowance clients 
		
		
			 Stage 1Engagement 300 n/a 
			 Stage 2 (after 4 weeks for JSA clients) 450 1,250 
			 First job outcome payment 400 1,000 
			 Second job outcome payment (after 5 weeks employed) 400 1,000 
			 Third job outcome payment  (after 13 weeks employed) 3,600 3,600 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Stage 1 Engagement is initial contact and preparation of a work plan.
	2. Stage 2 applies to those on JSA and anybody not working excluding lone parents, incapacity benefit, income support and severe disability allowance clients. It occurs after 4 weeks, the completion of the work plan and the commencement of job search.

Electoral Register

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of households in each (a) London borough and (b) constituency were on the electoral register on 1 January; and if he will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: I have been asked to reply.
	Treasury has transferred this question to my Department as we deal with Electoral Policy.
	The most recent published statistics on electoral registration are for 1 December 2004. Following, there are two tables showing:
	1. The number of local government electors in each London borough; and
	2. The number of parliamentary electors in each London constituency.
	Please note that these statistics relate to individual electors rather than to households. Estimates on the percentage of individuals and households registered are not available at constituency or borough level.
	
		Table 1: Number of registered local government electors at 1 December 2004, by London borough
		
			 Borough Number of local government electors 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 119,372 
			 Barnet 214,421 
			 Bexley 171,904 
			 Brent 180,665 
			 Bromley 228,983 
			 Camden 144,326 
			 City of London 6,018 
			 Croydon 246,866 
			 Ealing 215,814 
			 Enfield 194,611 
			 Greenwich 160,176 
			 Hackney 129,274 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 116,144 
			 Haringey 152,486 
			 Harrow 162,049 
			 Havering 175,668 
			 Hillingdon 181,145 
			 Hounslow 165,583 
			 Islington 120,297 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 98,629 
			 Kingston upon Thames 99,014 
			 Lambeth 203,055 
			 Lewisham 177,731 
			 Merton 135,678 
			 Newham 171,815 
			 Redbridge 181,192 
			 Richmond upon Thames 120,146 
			 Southwark 180,173 
			 Sutton 131,315 
			 Tower Hamlets 145,444 
			 Waltham Forest 159,399 
			 Wandsworth 211,816 
			 Westminster 135,810 
		
	
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics (ONS)
	
		Table 2: Number of registered parliamentary electors at 1 December 2004, by constituency in London
		
			 Constituency Number of parliamentary electors 
		
		
			 Barking 57,310 
			 Battersea 69,093 
			 Beckenham 75,143 
			 Bethnal Green and Bow 82,157 
			 Bexleyheath and Crayford 64,840 
			 Brent East 55,115 
			 Brent North 59,629 
			 Brent South 55,722 
			 Brentford and Isleworth 79,433 
			 Bromley and Chislehurst 71,532 
			 Camberwell and Peckham 55,755 
			 Carshalton and Wallington 66,949 
			 Chingford and Woodford Green 61,585 
			 Chipping Barnet 66,260 
			 Cities of London and Westminster 71,321 
			 Croydon Central 81,038 
			 Croydon North 83,826 
			 Croydon South 77,071 
			 Dagenham 60,311 
			 Dulwich and West Norwood 72,148 
			 Ealing North 78,180 
			 Baling, Acton and Shepherd's Bush 70,094 
			 Ealing, Southall 83,471 
			 East Ham 77,547 
			 Edmonton 58,676 
			 Eltham 57,267 
			 Enfield North 66,378 
			 Enfield, Southgate 63,539 
			 Erith and Thamesmead 71,774 
			 Feltham and Heston 80,476 
			 Finchley and Golders Green 69,252 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich 63,764 
			 Hackney North and Stoke Newington 58,635 
			 Hackney South and Shoreditch 63,776 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 78,295 
			 Hampstead and Highgate 66,725 
			 Harrow East 84,044 
			 Harrow West 74,286 
			 Hayes and Harlington 57,810 
			 Hendon 70,959 
			 Holborn and St. Pancras 66,301 
			 Hornchurch 60,256 
			 Hornsey and Wood Green 76,646 
			 Ilford North 69,972 
			 Ilford South 78,296 
			 Islington North 56,975 
			 Islington South and Finsbury 56,457 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 61,426 
			 Kingston and Surbiton 71,231 
			 Lewisham East 57,616 
			 Lewisham West 57,998 
			 Lewisham, Deptford 56,519 
			 Leyton and Wanstead 60,089 
			 Mitcham and Morden 65,608 
			 North Southwark and Bermondsey 77,088 
			 Old Bexley and Sidcup 68,072 
			 Orpington 78,925 
			 Poplar and Canning Town 83,129 
			 Putney 61,279 
			 Regent's Park and Kensington North 77,350 
			 Richmond Park 69,025 
			 Romford 58,993 
			 Ruislip-Northwood 61,206 
			 Streatham 78,615 
			 Sutton and Cheam 62,321 
			 Tooting 70,201 
			 Tottenham 66,400 
			 Twickenham 71,116 
			 Upminster 55,493 
			 Uxbridge 58,311 
			 Vauxhall 79,022 
			 Walthamstow 62,833 
			 West Ham 61,634 
			 Wimbledon 63,943 
		
	
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Equitable Life

John Butterfill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on the report of her investigation into the prudential regulation of Equitable Life.

Ivan Lewis: The Parliamentary Ombudsman's investigation into the prudential regulation of Equitable Life is, like all such investigations, being conducted in private. The Treasury is co-operating fully with the investigation.

Pensions

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amounts payable in the basic pensions in the year 200607 for (a) individuals and (b) couples if pensions had been increased by the levels of earnings inflation since 1997.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The information is in the table.
	
		
			   
		
		
			 State Pension (singles per week) 90.90 
			 State Pension (couples per week) 145.25 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are based on the April 1997 rate of State Pension uprated in line with the non-seasonally adjusted September Average Earnings Index including bonuses for 1997, and subsequent years, and take account of the convention that rates of State Pension are rounded to the nearest 5 pence.
	2. The couples rate is taken to be the value of a full Category A Pension combined with the value of a full Category B Pension.

Stamp Duty

Mark Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of revenue from stamp duty on property in each of the next three financial years.

Ivan Lewis: Estimated and projected revenues for total stamp taxes in 200506 and 200607 are published in Table B14 of the pre-Budget 2006 report. The component of the duty attributable to land and property (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is given in the following table:
	
		
			   billion 
			  Stamp duty land tax 
		
		
			 200506 7.0 
			 200607 7.8

Airspace (Extraordinary Renditions)

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date (a) he and (b) his officials first became aware of allegations that the United States was using civil aircraft for the purpose of the rendition of terrorist suspects.

Kim Howells: As the US Secretary of State, Condaleeza Rice, made clear in her statement of 5 December 2005, the United States and other countries have for decades used renditions to transport terrorist suspects from the country in which they were captured to their home country or to other countries where they can be questioned, held or brought to justice. As to the current allegations about rendition, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and his officials became aware of them when they appeared in the media.

Bribery (OECD Working Group)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library the briefing documents drawn up by his Department for the oral report the UK will make to the OECD Working Group on Bribery in relation to the Working Group's Phase 2 review recommendations.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave today (UIN 36845).

Building/Refurbishment Projects

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) building and (b) refurbishment projects are planned by his Department in (i) 200506 and (ii) 200607; and what the expected costs are of each project.

Kim Howells: Building and refurbishment projects planned/being undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 200506 and 200607, and the expected costs of these projects in those years are:
	
		
			000 
			  Building projects FY 200506 FY 200607 
		
		
			 Algiers New offices 700 8,866 
			 Almaty New offices 100 3,100 
			 Amman New visa offices 820 400 
			 Astana New offices 100 3,661 
			 Baghdad New offices and staff accommodation 11,452  
			 Bangkok Staff accommodation 1,100 3,869 
			 Bangkok Security work 600  
			 Basra New offices and staff accommodation 9,263  
			 Chennai New visa offices 1,170 10 
			 Colombo New offices 500 5,600 
			 Doha New offices and residence 1,105 4,410 
			 Durban Office fit-out 159  
			 Dushanbe New offices and residence 764 5 
			 Hanslope Park, Bucks Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Building 3,148 17,637 
			 Hanslope Park, Bucks Childcare Nursery 250 500 
			 Hanslope Park, Bucks Security work 500 500 
			 Harare New offices 700 4,050 
			 Islamabad/Karachi Staff accommodation 3,211 2,289 
			 Istanbul New visa offices 100 2,900 
			 Jakarta New offices 100 2,151 
			 Kabul Office fit-out 200 273 
			 Kabul Residence and staff housing 2,700  
			 Kampala New offices 1,500  
			 Ljubjlana Residence 100 1,116 
			 Manila New offices 330 4,637 
			 Mumbai New offices 250 1,332 
			 Munich Office fit-out  1,500 
			 Pyongyang Office fit-out  500 
			 Rabat New offices 4,000 2,164 
			 Sana'a New offices 4,000 2,773 
			 Sarajevo New offices 200 600 
			 Shanghai Office fit-out 40  
			 Skopje Office fit-out 3,500  
			 Tbilisi New offices 20 2,000 
			 Tehran Staff accommodation  2,000 
			 Tirana Residence 1,263 20 
			 Warsaw New offices 500 9,500 
		
	
	
		
			000 
			  Refurbishment projects FY 200506 FY 200607 
		
		
			 Belgrade Health and Safety works 36  
			 Buenos Aires Security work 600 1,100 
			 Buenos Aires Health and Safety works 2,700 163 
			 Damascus Security works 775  
			 Dublin Security works  1,800 
			 King Charles St Fourth floor conversion to open plan 5,630 3,162 
			 Kingston Health and Safety works 1,350 120 
			 Manila Health and Safety works 468 400 
			 Moscow Residence 301 4,010 
			 Ottawa Offices 175 1,000 
			 Tokyo Health and Safety works 290 1,150 
			 Washington Offices 410 5

Burma

Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations as the UK representative on the UN Security Council for that body to impose sanctions against Burma.

Ian Pearson: We encourage all the appropriate bodies of the United Nations (UN) to help bring about national reconciliation and respect for human rights and democracy in Burma. There is currently no agreement for imposing UN Security Council sanctions, but we continue to support any action in the UN Security Council which would help to promote reform and positive change in Burma.

Correspondence/Parliamentary Questions

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Brent East, dated 28 April, regarding Mr. Andrew Papworth.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no record of receiving a letter dated 28 April from the hon. Member. Officials have asked the hon. Member's office for a copy of the letter but no copy was held. A letter dated 14 December about the issues raised by the hon. Member's constituent, Mr. Papworth, was received in the FCO's Ministerial Support Unit that day. The hon. Member should expect a reply within 20 working days.

Correspondence/Parliamentary Questions

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords were dealt with by his Department in each year since 1995 in respect of the percentage his Department took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 13940WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
	Information on letters from members of the public and on parliamentary questions in the form requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Cotton (Subsidies)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts to co-ordinate pressure on the United States to cut subsidies to the cotton sector.

Douglas Alexander: We recognise the importance of cotton production for a number of developing countries, particularly Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. World Trade Organisation (WTO) members in July 2004 agreed to deal with the issue of cotton
	ambitiously, expeditiously, and specifically, within the agricultural negotiations.
	Progress on cotton subsidies is an important litmus test of developed countries' development credentials within the WTO Round, including those of the EU. Failure to reach agreement on cotton will seriously damage prospects for the ambitious, pro-development outcome to the WTO Round that we are all seeking. We need an ambitious outcome on agriculture and this should include early implementation of the agreement on cotton.
	The United States (US) has clearly had the greatest influence on the world price for cotton, distorting the market both through domestic support and export subsidies, which together amount to around $3.9 billion a year. We have encouraged the US to implement rapidly the findings of the WTO Appeals Panel report, and will continue to do so.
	My right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade raised the issue of cotton subsidies during his statement on the WTO Round at the European Parliament's Plenary Session on 30 November. The EU has already agreed major reforms to the EU cotton sector in 2004. We are encouraging EU producers to decouple payments to the maximum extent possible.

Departmental Staff

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are taken by his Department to support staff with mental ill-health.

Ian Pearson: All Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff have access to a full occupational health service provided by Capita Health Solutions through the FCO healthcare contract with International SOS. This includes advice on adjustments to working arrangements as appropriate.
	All FCO staff also have access to a confidential support and counselling service provided by an external employee assistance programme as well as access to professionally trained in-house welfare officers.

Diplomatic Cars (Clamping)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to clamp illegally parked diplomatic cars of countries who have refused to pay (a) parking fines and (b) the London congestion charge.

Kim Howells: No. The Government cannot introduce a policy of wheel clamping of diplomatic vehicles as this would be in breach of International Law. Article 31.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 states that
	A diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State.
	Provision for exemption from wheel clamping is also made for owners of vehicles with D plates under Section 70 of the Road Traffic Act 1991.

Disability

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the initial activity undertaken by his Department in response to those recommendations in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Report Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People where lead responsibility was assigned to all Government Departments.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) administration, in consultation with the FCO's Disability Action Group (a group of staff with an interest in disability, chaired by the Board Champion for Disability), is addressing the recommendations set out in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Report, Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People.
	Our goal is to be an employer of choice for disabled people by 2010. Our action plan and agreed priorities include:
	developing more transparent procedures for boarding and recruiting disabled officers;
	providing training for disabled staff and their line managers;
	securing more resources for reasonable adjustments;
	developing guidelines for line managers of disabled staff;
	participating in the Employers' Forum on Disability Benchmark;
	organising a Disability Awareness Week with a series of lunch time seminars.

Eritrea/Ethiopia

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he plans to have with the Government of Eritrea on that country's expulsion of United Nations peacekeepers; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend for Stroud (Mr. Drew) today (UIN 36932).

Longline Fisheries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government will take steps to reduce the use of longline fisheries in the waters around (a) South Georgia, (b) the South Sandwich Islands and (c) the British Antarctic Territory.

Douglas Alexander: The longline fishery for Patagonian toothfish around South Georgia provides the mainstay revenues for the Territory.
	The fishery is undertaken in a sustainable way, in line with Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and stringent conservation measures determined by an international body, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). This year, CCAMLR agreed to a limited TAC of 100 tonnes for the South Sandwich Islands, linked to detailed scientific research, and a TAG for South Georgia of 3,556 tonnes.
	Vessel quotas and conservation measures are strictly enforced by the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, supported by a comprehensive programme of scientific research. All toothfish fisheries in the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) 200-nautical-mile Maritime Zone operate strict mitigating measures to minimise by-catch of non-target species. As a result of these efforts, the incidental catch of seabirds in these fisheries is virtually nil.
	The South Georgia toothfish fishery received official recognition for the sustainable way in which it is managed when it was awarded Marine Stewardship Council certification in March 2004. It is the only fishery in the Southern Ocean to have received such certification.
	Given these factors, the Government see no need to change the method of fishing for toothfish in the waters around SGSSI.
	No longline fisheries are permitted in the waters adjacent to the British Antarctic Territory.

Nigel Potter

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the US authorities about the case of Mr. Nigel Potter, ex-chief executive of Wembley plc.

Ian Pearson: We are aware of the passage of Mr. Potter's case through the US courts. Mr. Potter has legal representation. We are unable to directly interfere in the US Judicial process but we will continue to provide Mr. Potter with appropriate consular assistance.

Old Whaling Stations (Pollution)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to prevent pollution from old whaling stations from damaging the environment around (a) South Georgia, (b) the South Sandwich Islands and (c) the British Antarctic Territory.

Douglas Alexander: Work has recently been completed on the clean-up of the former whaling station at Grytviken, which now presents no hazard to wildlife or to those who visit or work in this area of South Georgia. However, the South Georgia Government are aware that the derelict whaling stations at Stromness, Husvik and Leith Harbour present similar hazards to those previously present at Grytviken, largely in the form of asbestos, heavy fuel oil and collapsing buildings. There are no whaling stations in the South Sandwich Islands.
	No funds are currently available to the South Georgia Government to carry out the clean-up of these other whaling stations, although it is hoped that it will be possible to undertake some of this work (mostly on the clean-up of heavy fuel oils) in the event of an increase in income from the licensing of fishing around South Georgia. Meanwhile, signs have been erected around the former whaling stations at Stromness, Husvik and Leith Harbour warning visitors not to approach within 200 metres of them due to the hazards presented by the asbestos and dangerous structures.
	The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) undertook clean-up work at the site of a former UK base (and former Norwegian whaling station) at Deception Island, South Shetland Islands in 1992. This work included the removal of 500 drums of waste fuel and debris. A further 45 m 3 of waste, including asbestos and other hazards, was removed by BAS in April 2004.
	The site has now been designated as Historic Site and Monument (HSM) No. 71 under the Antarctic treaty, and forms part of the Deception Island Antarctic specially managed area. A conservation strategy for HSM 71 allows for the ongoing clean-up of debris resulting from the gradual deterioration of the buildings and other structures.

Overseas Missions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list overseas missions of his Department which have closed since 1997; and on what date each (a) opened and (b) closed.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)has closed 26 overseas missions since 1997. The following table provides further details. In most cases, the financial year in which the post had opened or closed has been given because we do not keep a record centrally of more detailed information, and in any event there is not a clear date on which a mission closes. Like any well-run organisation, the FCO continues to realign its resources flexibly in line with UK interests.
	
		Overseas Missions Closed since 1997
		
			 Mission First opened Closed 
		
		
			 Barranquilla (Colombia) 1889 199798 
			 Zurich (Switzerland) 1887 199798 
			 Kuching (Malaysia) 1969 199899 
			 Chiang Mai (Thailand) 1884 199899 
			 Cleveland (USA) 1910 19992000 
			 Pusan (Korea Rep) 1970 19992000 
			 Seville (Spain) (37)pre 1852 200001 
			 Bamako (Mali) (38)1962 200304 
			 San Salvador (El Salvador) 1968 200304 
			 Tegucigalpa (Honduras) 1894 200304 
			 Managua (Nicaragua) 1894 200304 
			 Douala (Cameroon) 1992 200405 
			 Vientiane (Laos) 199596 200405 
			 Oporto (Portugal) (37)pre 1852 200405 
			 Tarawa (Kiribati) (39)1979 200405 
			 Maseru (Lesotho) (40)1965 200506 
			 Antananarivo (Madagascar) 1972 200506 
			 Mbabane (Swaziland) (40)1968 200506 
			 Nassau (Bahamas) (40)1973 200506 
			 Asuncion (Paraguay) 1854 200506 
			 Dallas (USA) 1969 200506 
			 Phoenix (USA) 1996 200506 
			 San Juan (USA) (37)(38)pre 1852 200506 
			 Fukuoka (Japan) 1999 200506 
			 Port Vila (Vanuatu) 1980 200506 
			 Leipzig (Germany) 2001 200506 
		
	
	(37) Already listed in first Foreign Office list 1952.
	(38) Opened with locally engaged staff; 200001 regraded to a UK staff mission; 200102 regraded to an embassy.
	(39) Opened as a high commission which was closed 199394; 200102 reopened as a mission with locally engaged staff.
	(40) Following independence.
	(41) As dependency of Spain; as dependency of US from 1899.

Sir Christopher Meyer

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2005, Official Report, columns 16466W, on Sir Christopher Meyer, if he will place in the Library copies of (a) all relevant correspondence from (i) Sir Christopher Meyer and (ii) his publishers and (b) the responses to that correspondence.

Kim Howells: Copies of the correspondence between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Sir Christopher Meyer and between the Cabinet Office and his publishers about his book have been placed in the Library of the House.

Sugar Regime

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact that the new EU reductions in sugar subsidies will have on Caribbean (a) agricultural economies and (b) Caribbean communities in other countries.

Douglas Alexander: We recognise the consequences that the reforms to the EU Sugar Regime agreed at the 24 November Agriculture Council may have on some African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) sugar producers with preferential access to the EU market. However, we welcome the overall agreement in the broader context of reforming the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and the benefits this will bring to many developing countries. Furthermore, the sugar reforms will see a smaller price cut and a longer adjustment period than originally proposed. This will give the ACP a better opportunity to adapt to the reforms.
	The EU will provide transitional assistance to help ACP producers improve their efficiency in the sugar sector where feasible or diversify into more profitable sectors. Ensuring that credible and timely transitional assistance is in place remains a priority for the UK.
	In September 2003, the Department for International Development (DfID) commissioned consultants (LMC International Ltd) to produce an independent report into the impact that EU sugar reform would have by 2015 on the ACP countries that are party to the Sugar Protocol. This work was updated in June 2005, after the Commission put forward its proposals but before agreement was reached on the shape of the reforms. It therefore assumes a 39 per cent. price cut rather than the actual 36 per cent.
	More recent assessments have been carried out by European Commission funded consultants, who again assumed a 39 per cent. price cut. For example, in Jamaica the consultants concluded that this would reduce the value of sugar export revenues from 6.9 per cent. of total exports to 4.9 per cent. and reduce GDP by 0.8 per cent. over four years.
	My noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Parliamentary Under-secretary of State, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, discussed the impact of reform of the EU sugar regime on the Caribbean at a meeting in London in October with members of the Caribbean British Business Council, which represents British businesses with interests in the Caribbean. The subject was also discussed at the UK Caribbean Business Forum in London in June, which brought together Ministers and leading businessmen from the UK and the Caribbean.
	Currently, DFID is working with Caribbean countries affected by the reforms to help them draw up the country plans through which the EU's transitional assistance will be delivered.

Travel Costs

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the additional cost of (a) his and (b) his officials' early return from Moscow to permit him to vote in the proceedings in the Terrorism Bill.

Douglas Alexander: pursuant to the reply, 16 November 2005, Official Report, c. 1268W
	Regarding the total cost of the charter aircraft, the charter company has now informed us that the total cost of the charter was 96,400, which included an additional 28,200 for diverting through the UK on 9 November, 2,000 less than given in my reply.

UN Convention Against Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library the representations he has received from (a) businesses, (b) business organisations and (c) non-governmental organisations on the UK signing and ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave today (UIN 36843).

UN Security Council

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on reform of the UN Security Council.

Kim Howells: At the United Nations (UN) 2005 World Summit, all 191 member states agreed that reform of the Security Council was an essential element of the overall UN reform agenda. The UK has long-supported such reform to ensure that the work of the Security Council is more representative, effective and transparent. At a Foreign and Commonwealth Office event marking the 60th anniversary of the UN in June, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, reiterated the Government's position that
	we want to see a Security Council which reflects today's world and the contributions of the UN's members to its objectives. The UK therefore supports the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent membership, with permanent representation for Japan, Germany, India and Brazil, and for Africa.
	The UK is also committed to enhancing the Security Council's working methods, including holding more Council discussions in public, expanding the involvement of interested countries, and holding more frequent meetings with troop contributing countries.

Venezuela

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between Venezuela and Bolivia, with particular reference to reports of Venezuelan interference in Bolivian domestic politics.

Douglas Alexander: We are aware of recent allegations of Venezuelan interference in Bolivian domestic politics, including comments made by the Venezuelan Charg d'affaires in Bolivia, and continue to monitor the situation. We consider this issue is first and foremost a bilateral matter between the two countries.

Venezuela

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between Venezuela and the United States of America, with particular reference to the sale of discounted heating oil to Massachusetts by Venezuela.

Douglas Alexander: Bilateral relations between Venezuela and the United States (US) are a matter for the two countries concerned.
	We understand that Citgo Petroleum Corporation, a US registered company owned by the Venezuelan Government, is providing discounted oil to low-income communities in the US, including in New York and Massachusetts. A US State Department spokesman has recently commented that the US regards this as an
	issue of an American company helping American people, which is good and right and proper.

Venezuela

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of (a) relations between Venezuela and Jamaica and (b) the implications of those relations for (i) UK-Venezuela relations, (ii) UK-Jamaican relations and (iii) the wider region.

Douglas Alexander: We understand that relations between Venezuela and Jamaica are good and have recently been enhanced by an agreement signed between them under the PetroCaribe Agreement. We do not believe that this relationship has made any significant difference to the good relations we have with Jamaica or Venezuela, or to relations within the Caribbean.

Zimbabwe

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the account of the situation in Zimbabwe given on 7 December by the UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs; and what action he is proposing to take in the United Nations as a result.

Ian Pearson: We share Mr. Egeland's, United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, concern following his visit to Zimbabwe that the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe is extremely serious and worsening. We regret that instead of accepting UN assistance, President Mugabe has chosen to vilify the UN and Mr. Egeland following that visit. The Government of Zimbabwe must shift, in the interests of all Zimbabweans, from a policy of confrontation to a policy of co-operation with the international community, including with the UN.
	Mr. Egeland briefed the UN Security Council on 19 December on humanitarian issues in Africa, at which the UK raised the issue of Zimbabwe.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the demobilisation process in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hilary Benn: The UK is concerned by the limited progress made by the demobilisation process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Progress is slow because too few soldiers associated with the different composants of the transitional government are being encouraged and facilitated to enter the process. The UK, with the rest of the International Community, continues to press the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to accelerate its efforts in the implementation of the demobilisation and re-integration process. I personally urged President Kabila and other members of the transitional government to step up army integration and demobilisation of soldiers during my recent visit to Democratic Republic of Congo.
	The International Committee Accompanying the Transition process in the DRC (CIAT)in which the UK is a very active member) has repeatedly pushed the Congolese transitional government for more progress in this area. The CIAT released a very strong statement in early December urging the Government of the DRC to speed up both the integration of the army and demobilisation of ex-combatants. The international community, including the UK, are providing substantial direct support to the demobilisation process. The UK is putting $25 million over 5 years into the World Bank's Multi-Country Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme (MDRP), covering nine countries including the DRC.

Departmental Guidance (Evidence/Documentary Access)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is with regard to (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department giving evidence to the (i) Scottish Parliament, (ii) National Assembly for Wales and (iii) Northern Ireland Assembly committees; and to what categories of document he gives (A) full access, (B) restricted access and (C) no access to (1) Scottish Parliament, (2) National Assembly for Wales, (3) Northern Ireland Assembly and (4) House of Commons Select Committees.

Hilary Benn: Requests for the attendance of Ministers or officials to give evidence to the devolved legislatures, and for the provision of information to the assemblies, will be considered on a case by case basis. The consideration will reflect: the principles set out in the Cabinet Office guidance Departmental Evidence and Response to Select Committees (July 2005); the policy outlined in the Department for Constitutional Affairs' Devolution Guidance Note No. 12 Attendance of UK Ministers and Officials at Committees of the devolved legislatures; and the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. The principles underlying the provision of information to House of Commons Select Committees are set out in Departmental Evidence and Response to Select Committees, particularly sections 4B and 4C.
	I spoke to members of the European and External Relations Committee of the Scottish Parliament by video link on 22 March 2005.

HIV/AIDS

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the United Nations about HIV/AIDS in developing countries; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: In 2005, AIDS has been a centrepiece of the UK's Presidencies of the G8 and EU. On 9 March 2005, with the Joint United Nations Programme for HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), France and the United States of America, the UK, through DFID, co-hosted the Making the Money Work event in London to translate the Three Ones harmonisation principles into action. The Global Task Team established at this meeting has made significant time bound recommendations for improving the coordination and quality of international support for national-led responses to the epidemic. DFID is working in country and through the relevant UN boards to ensure the recommendations of the Global Task Team are put into practice.
	Following the commitments made at the G8 Summit in July and Millennium Review Summit in September to scale up towards universal access, DFID will co-chair the Global Steering Committee with UNAIDS, established to take forward the commitments made at the summits to support countries in establishing more ambitious comprehensive country-led responses to AIDS.
	At the UK-hosted Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Replenishment Conference in September, the UK doubled its funding to the Global Fund from 51 million for 2006 and 51 million in 2007, to 100 million for 2006 and 100 million for 2007. Our contribution amounted to some 10 per cent. of the total US$3.7 billion pledged. Overall, the UK has pledged 359 million (US$640 million) to the Global Fund over 7 years (200208). We have also doubled our contribution to UNAIDS from 8 million to 16 million for this year.
	To take forward the HIV and AIDS situation in developing countries, DFID Ministers hold regular discussions with heads of the relevant United Nations Agencies (in particular, UNAIDS). I have recently met with Anne Veneman, the head of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, and Thoraya Obaid, head of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), where we discussed current HIV and AIDS issues.
	At the United Nations General Assembly Special Session in June 2006, to review the global progress against the Declaration of Commitment which member states signed up to in 2001, DFID will be actively be involved in preparation for this session through dialogue with our EU partners and UN agencies.

Zimbabwe

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid from the UK has been committed to (a) the Republic of Zimbabwe and (b) non-governmental organisations operating in Zimbabwe in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Hilary Benn: By the end of this financial year, DFID will have committed over 140 million to humanitarian and HIV/AIDS programmes in Zimbabwe since 200102. This will include approximately 95 million committed directly to non-governmental organisations. The breakdown is as follows:
	
		
			   million 
			 Financial year 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506(46) 
		
		
			 Humanitarian
			 NGO 1.77 16.73 17.63 11.16 9.43 
			 UN 5.0 6.52 7.66 3.24 13.76 
			   
			 Health and HIV/AIDS(47)
			 NGO 4.96 5.5 8.03 10.23 9.85 
			 UN 0.05 0 0 0.5 6.7 
			 Other 3.47 1.17 0.85 0.73 0.26 
			 Total 15.23 29.93 34.17 25.58 40.00 
		
	
	(46) Figures for the financial year 200506 refer to planned expenditure.
	(47) Includes support for orphans and vulnerable children, insecticide treated bednets, and an emergency programme to reduce maternal mortality.

Digital Television

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the availability of digital television.

James Purnell: The vast majority of households can, with the appropriate equipment, receive digital TV services via either digital satellite, digital terrestrial or cable.
	However at least a quarter of households cannot currently receive the digital terrestrial television (DTT) service; this figure cannot be increased before switchover, which will take place between 2008 and 2012.

BBC Charter

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to announce the renewal of the BBC Charter.

Tessa Jowell: We intend to publish the White Paper and draft Charter and Agreement early in 2006. The new Charter and Agreement will replace the existing instruments, which expire on 31 December 2006.

Administrative Savings

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what administrative savings have been made by her Department in each of the last eight years.

David Lammy: Information on gross controlled administration costs underspends for my Department is included in the published Public Expenditure Outturn White Papers for the relevant years. These are available in the Library of the House.
	Details of efficiency gains being made as part of the SR04 efficiency programme, as set out in the Efficiency Technical Notes, are available on the Department's website:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/global/publications/archive_2004.

Children's Play

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which Departments are represented on the official interdepartmental group on children's play; what the work programme of the group is; and when it will report.

David Lammy: Departmental membership of the cross-departmental officials' group on children's play is as follows: Culture, Media and Sport (Chair); Education and Skills; Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Health; Transport; Home Office; Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; and the Treasury.
	The group's aim as defined in its terms of reference is:
	To develop a coherent and strategic cross departmental approach to play policy; and to maximise the contribution that play can make to DCMS priorities and to those across Government, while recognising the importance of play in its own right.
	The group has met three times and has considered a number of topical issues. The group reports to me on an ongoing basis.

Correspondence

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for St. Albans dated 25 October 2005;
	(2)  what the reasons are for the time taken to answer (a) the question tabled by the hon. Member for St. Albans on 22 November 2005, reference 32363 and (b) the letter referred to in the question; and if she will make a statement.

James Purnell: I apologise for the delay in replying to (a) the question 32362 and (b) the letter of 25 October 2005. I will reply to the hon. Members letter shortly.
	The Department has received a large volume of correspondence both from hon. Members and members of the public in the run-up to and immediately following the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 on 24 November 2005 this year.
	Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently. Correspondence from hon. Members is handled in accordance with the principles set out in 'Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments'.

Correspondence

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average time taken for her to reply to letters from hon. Members was in the last period for which figures are available.

David Lammy: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently.
	All correspondence from hon. Members and peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments. The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
	The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/peers correspondence. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 13740WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.

Correspondence

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords were dealt with by her Department in each year since 1995; in respect of the percentage her Department took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently.
	All correspondence from hon. Members and Peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in 'Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments'. The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
	The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 13740WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
	The information we hold on letters from the public refers only to the period from 1997, and whether or not we were late in responding. See table.
	
		
			  Public total Percentage late 
		
		
			 1997 (after 1 May 1997) 9,239 39 
			 1998 19,794 39 
			 1999 15,244 35 
			 2000 14,380 29 
			 2001 11,216 29 
			 2002 9,051 35 
			 2003 8,359 41 
			 2004 8,177 43 
			 2005 (to 30 September 2005) 9,355 41 
		
	
	DCMS has set up a new Central Information and Briefing Unit, which will help ensure that replies to correspondence from the public are dealt with in a prompt, accurate and helpful manner.
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport aims to ensure that hon. Members receive a substantive response to their named day questions on the named day and endeavour to answer ordinary written questions within a working week of being tabled. We also aim to answer Lords written questions within two weeks of being tabled. Unfortunately, this is not always possible but we do make every effort to achieve these time scales.
	The figures for the total number of written parliamentary questions tabled by (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords and answered in each year since 1995 1 are given in the table together with the number for those years that took (A) between one-three months and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer.
	
		
			   Written questions answered late (13 months) (Commons) Written questions answered late (3 months) (Commons) 
			  Total number of written questions answered (Commons) Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 1999 1,113 22 1.9 2 0.18 
			 2000 1,418 67 4.7 0  
			 2001 1,423 59 4.14 7 0.49 
			 2002 1,753 38 2.16 0  
			 2003 1,351 43 3.18 3 0.14 
			 2004 1,408 47 3.33 1 0.07 
			 2005 (up to 8 December 2005) 1,436 59 4.10 5 0.34 
		
	
	
		
			   Written questions answered late (13 months) (Lords) 
			  Total number of written questions answered (Lords) Number Percentage Number of written questions answered late (3 months) (Lords) 
		
		
			 1999 170 2 1.17 0 
			 2000 161 6 3.7 0 
			 2001 156 2 1.28 0 
			 2002 204 3 1.47 0 
			 2003 149 0  0 
			 2004 335 0  0 
			 2005 (up to 8 December 2005) 147 4 2.72 0 
		
	
	(48) Accurate figures for years prior to 1999 are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Source:
	Information derived from the DCMS parliamentary questions database.

Departmental Costs

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the (a) salary bill was and (b) administrative costs were for her Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London in 200405.

David Lammy: My Department's net administration costs for 200405 were 40,452,000, of which 19,814,000 related to its salary bill. The Department has no staff located outside London.
	The administration budgets regime overseen by the Treasury relates to Whitehall departments only. How administration costs are controlled in the devolved Administrations is a matter for them. Treasury do not monitor regional or central London administration costs separately.

Disability

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether a Minister in her Department is planned to be nominated to take responsibility for liaison with the Office for Disability Issues; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: Anne McGuire, the Minister for Disabled People, has overall responsibility for the Office for Disabled Issues (ODI). The Minister for Disabled People chairs a cross-government steering group which includes ministerial representatives from the Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Department for Transport and Department of Trade and Industry. I am the Minister in this Department nominated to take responsibility for liaison with the ODI.

Organised Sport

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department has taken to encourage organised sports in inner city areas.

Richard Caborn: The Department is committed to driving up participation in sport by providing facilities and services that meet local needs. Sport England is delivering a number of projects which target inner city areas, including StreetGames networks that specialise in providing organised sporting activities for young people in deprived inner city neighbourhoods and which promote the development of local leaders and coaches.

Tourism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent in each of the last five years in promoting tourism to the UK in China; and what assessment she has made of the effects of the promotion campaigns.

James Purnell: My Department works actively to promote both domestic and inbound tourism. At a national level, marketing and other work to promote the sector is the responsibility of VisitBritain.
	DCMS funding to promote tourism to the UK in China is via VisitBritain and in 200405 a budget of 200,000 was agreed.
	It is too early to give an assessment of the effects of the promotion campaign. However, VisitBritain's strategy to increase the value of inbound tourism and visitor numbers includes focussing its efforts on China as one of the markets with the greatest potential for growth.

Advisory Non-departmental Public Bodies

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department (a) have a statutory base, (b) publish their advice to Government, (c) publish an annual report and (d) lay an annual report before Parliament; and whether this is under a statutory requirement in each case.

Harriet Harman: The information can be found in the following table.
	
		
			 Name of advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) (a) Hold public meetings If so, whether under a statutory requirement (b) Conduct public consultation exercises If so, whether under a statutory requirement (c) Conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests If so, whether under a statutory requirement 
		
		
			 Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace in England and Wales No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Council on National Records  and Archives No No No No No No 
			 Boundary Commission for England Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 
			 Boundary Commission for Scotland Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 
			 Boundary Commission for Wales Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 
			 Civil Justice Council Yes(50) No Yes No Yes No 
			 Civil Procedure Rule Committee Yes (proposed)(51) No Yes(52) Yes(53) No No 
			 Council on Tribunals No No Yes(54) No Yes(55) No 
			 Courts Boards Yes No No No No No 
			 Criminal Procedure Rule Committee No No Yes(56) No No No 
			 Crown Court Rule Committee No No No No No No 
			 Family Justice Council No No No No No No 
			 Family Procedure Rule Committee Yes (proposed)(57) No Yes(58) Yes No No 
			 Insolvency Rules Committee No No No No No No 
			 Land Registration Rule Committee No No Yes(50) 0 No Yes(50)(51) No 
			 Law Commission No(50)(51) No Yes(50)(51) No Yes(50)(51) No 
			 Legal Services Consultative Panel No No No No No No 
			 Strategic Investment Board No No No No No No 
		
	
	(50) Civil Justice Council: has held public meetings in the past but not currently.
	(51) Civil Procedure Rule Committee: agreed in July 2005 to start holding public meetings in 2006.
	(52) Civil Procedure Rule Committee: public consultation means that any interested body or individual, whether commercial or not, has the opportunity to respond.
	(53) Civil Procedure Rule Committee: consultation is statutory under the Civil Procedure Act 1997.
	(54) Council on Tribunals: consults with a range of Tribunal users, practitioners and other stakeholders through various consultation methods.
	(55) Council on Tribunals: consults representative professional bodies e.g. the Law Society, Bar Council, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Other commercial interests have responded to consultations.
	(56) Criminal Procedure Rule Committee: conducts consultations before making rules; the views of commercial interests may be captured.
	(57) Family Procedure Rule Committee: agreed in December 2005 to hold public meetings in 2006.
	(58) Family Procedure Rule Committee: consults as appropriate and in accordance with statutory requirements.
	(59) 0 Land Registration Rule Committee: where appropriate, consultation will be conducted by Land Registry before the Committee considers proposed rules.
	(60) Land Registration Rule Committee: see previous footnote.
	(62) Law Commission: from time to time holds public meetings under consultation process.
	(63) Law Commission: all the projects it undertakes involve wide public consultation exercises with anyone affected by the law. This can include outside commercial interests.
	
		
			 Name of advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) (d) Publish a register of members' interests If so, whether under a statutory requirement (e) Publish agendas for meetings If so, whether under a statutory requirement (f) Publish the minutes of meetings If so, whether under a statutory requirement 
		
		
			 Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace in England and Wales No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Council on National Records and Archives Yes No No No Yes(64) No 
			 Boundary Commission for England No No No No No(65) No 
			 Boundary Commission for Scotland No No No No No No 
			 Boundary Commission for Wales No No No No No No 
			 Civil Justice Council Yes No Yes No Yes No 
			 Civil Procedure Rule Committee Yes No Yes No Yes No 
			 Council on Tribunals Yes(66) No Yes No Yes(67) No 
			 Courts Boards Yes(68) No Yes No Yes(69) No 
			 Criminal Procedure Rule Committee No(70) No Yes No Yes(71) No 
			 Crown Court Rule Committee Yes(72) No No No No No 
			 Family Justice Council No No Yes No Yes(64) 0 No 
			 Family Procedure Rule Committee Yes No No No Yes(64)(65) No 
			 Insolvency Rules Committee No No No No No No 
			 Land Registration Rule Committee No No Yes No Yes No 
			 Law Commission Yes No Yes No Yes(64)(65) No 
			 Legal Services Consultative Panel Yes(64)(65) No Yes No Yes No 
			 Strategic Investment Board Yes No Yes No Yes(64)(65) No 
		
	
	(64) Advisory Committee on National Records and Archives: publish summaries of minutes of meetings.
	(65) Boundary Commissions for England, Scotland and Wales: publish the minutes of public inquiries only.
	(66) Council on Tribunals: the DCA maintains a register of members' interests. This is available on request.
	(67) Council on Tribunals: meeting agendas and minutes are available on request under Freedom of Information Act 2000 publication scheme.
	(68) Courts Boards: registers of members' interests available on request in accordance with publication schemes under Freedom of Information Act 2000.
	(69) Courts Boards: meeting agendas and summaries of minutes may be available on request in accordance with their publication schemes under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
	(70) Criminal Procedure Rule Committee: plans to make a register of interests available.
	(71) Criminal Procedure Rule Committee: will make meeting agendas and minutes available on request.
	(72) Crown Court Rule Committee: register of members' interests available on request.
	(73) 0 Family Justice Council: publishes summaries of minutes on website.
	(74)(75) Family Procedure Rule Committee: register of members' interests and meeting minutes available on request under Freedom of Information Act 2000 publication scheme.
	(76) Law Commission: register of members' interests available on request.
	(77) Legal Services Consultative Panel: register of members' interests available on DCA website; minutes and agendas available on request.
	(78) Legal Services Consultative Panel: register of members' interests available on DCA website; minutes and agendas available on request.

Advisory Non-departmental Public Bodies

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department (a) hold public meetings, (b) conduct public consultation exercises, (c) conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests, (d) publish a register of members' interest, (e) publish agendas for meetings and (f) publish the minutes of meetings; and whether this is under a statutory requirement in each case.

Harriet Harman: The information can be found in the following table.
	
		
			 Name of advisory non- departmental public body (NDPB) (a) Statutory base (b) Publish their advice to Government If so, whether under a statutory requirement (c) Publish an annual report If so, whether under a statutory requirement (d) Lay an annual report before Parliament If so, whether under a statutory requirement 
		
		
			 Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax No No No No(79) No No No 
			 Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace in England and Wales No No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Council on National Records and Archives Yes(80) No No No(81) No Yes Yes(82) 
			 Boundary Com mission for England Yes(83) Yes Yes Yes No No No 
			 Boundary Commission for Scotland Yes(84) Yes Yes No No No No 
			 Boundary Commission for Wales Yes(85) Yes Yes Yes No No No 
			 Civil Justice Council Yes(86) Yes No Yes No No No 
			 Civil Procedure Rule Committee Yes(87) No No Yes No No No 
			 Council on Tribunals Yes(79) 0 No No Yes Yes(79)(80) Yes Yes(79)(80) 
			 Courts Boards Yes(79)(80) No No No No No No 
			 Criminal Procedure Rule Committee Yes(79)(80) No No Yes(79)(80) No No No 
			 Crown Court Rule Committee Yes(79)(80) No No Yes No No No 
			 Family Justice Council No No No Yes (proposed)(79)(80) No No No 
			 Family Procedure Rule Committee Yes(79)(80) No No Yes (proposed)(79)(80) No No No 
			 Insolvency Rules Committee Yes(80) 0 No No No(80)(80) No No No 
			 Land Registration Rule Committee Yes(80)(81) No No No No No No 
			 Law Commission Yes(80)(81) Yes Yes(80)(80) Yes Yes(80)(81) Yes Yes(80)(81) 
			 Legal Services Consultative Panel Yes(80)(81) No No No No No No 
			 Strategic Investment Board No No No Yes No No No 
		
	
	(79) Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax: an annual report is submitted to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA).
	(80) Advisory Council on National Records and Archives: established in 2003 following the merger of the Public Records Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission, The Advisory Council on Public Records was first created under s1(2) of the Public Records Act 1958.
	(81) Advisory Council on National Records and Archives: it is optional for an annual report to be made.
	(82) Advisory Council on National Records and Archives: if an annual report is made, there is a statutory requirement to lay it before Parliament under s1(3) of the Public Records Act 1958.
	(83) Boundary Commission for England: Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the Boundary Commissions Act 1992, refers.
	(84) Boundary Commission for Scotland: Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the Scotland Act 1988 and the Boundary Commissions Act 1992, refers.
	(85) Boundary Commission for Wales: Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the Boundary Commissions Act 1992, the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 and the Government of Wales Act 1998, refers.
	(86) Civil Justice Council: Civil Procedure Act 1997 refers (and the Access to Justice Act 1999 and the Courts Act 2003).
	(87) Civil Procedure Rule Committee: Civil Procedure Act 1997 refers.
	(88) 0 Council on Tribunals: Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992 refers.
	(89)
	(90) Council on Tribunals: required by section 4(7) of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992 to make an annual report.
	(91) Council on Tribunals: Lord Chancellor required to lay the annual report before Parliament under section 4(7) of the Tribunal and Inquiries Act 1992.
	(92) Courts Boards: the Courts Act 2003 refers.
	(93) Criminal Procedure Rule Committee: S70 of the Courts Act 2003 refers.
	(94) The work of the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee is reported within the DCA's Departmental Annual Report.
	(95) Crown Court Rule Committee: s86 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 refers.
	(96) Family Justice council: aims to publish first annual report in late summer/early autumn 2006.
	(97) Family Procedure Rule Committee: s75 of the Courts Act 2003 refers.
	(98) Family Procedure Rule Committee: annual report to be submitted in December 2005 for publication.
	(99) 0 Insolvency Rules Committee: S413 of the Insolvency Act 1986 refers.
	(100)
	(101) Insolvency Rules Committee: submits contribution for DCA annual report.
	(102) Land Registration Rule Committee: s127 of the Land Registration Act 2002 refers.
	(103) Law Commission: s1 of the Law Commissions Act 1965 refers.
	(104) Law Commission: the Lord Chancellor is required under s3(2) of the Law Commissions Act 1965 to lay Law Commission programmes of work before Parliament.
	(105) Law Commission: under s3(3) of the Law Commissions Act 1965 it makes an annual report to the Lord Chancellor.
	(106) Law Commission: its annual report is laid before Parliament under s3(3) of the Law Commissions act 1965.
	(107) Legal Services Consultative Panel: s35 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 refers.

Barristers

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the 10 barristers instructed by the Treasury Solicitor to advise and to represent the Government in court proceeding; who received the highest payments in the last financial year; how much each received; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply 
	as Law Officers are accountable for the Treasury Solicitor.
	The 10 barristers instructed by the Treasury Solicitor to advise and to represent the Government in court proceedings who were paid the highest sums for this work in the last financial year (ending 31 March 2005) and the amounts paid are:
	
		
			   
			  Counsel Amount paid in last financial year including VAT(108) 
		
		
			 Philip Sales 619,633.76 
			 Ian Burnett QC 327,595.20 
			 Christopher Wilson 304,891.85 
			 Jonathan Crow 287,883.78 
			 Christopher Lewsley 237,255.76 
			 Julie Anderson 227,810.61 
			 Stuart Catchpole QC 201,160.08 
			 Jennifer Richards 199,459.80 
			 Monica Carss-Frisk 195,116.02 
			 Leigh- Ann Mulcahy 182,478.63 
		
	
	(108) The figures include payment for instruction in arbitrations as well as in court proceedings. Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms are used as appropriate.
	A number of qualifications need to be added to these figures:
	The amount paid to barristers in one financial year is not necessarily reflective of the work carried out during that year. Payment may take place during or sometime after the work.
	The figures must be interpreted carefully and do not represent the personal earnings of the barristers listedfigures are inclusive of VAT and disbursements incurred. After VAT has been deducted, barristers will typically pay 25 to 30 per cent. of fees in professional expenses. Additionally, barristers face the same expenses as any other self- employed person, including income tax and national insurance contributions.
	The Crown pays barristers at a fixed hourly rate for work payable, for example, only when hearings take place, and does not use a brief fee system.
	Not all payments could be verified with the individuals concerned. Cases in dispute, where records of payments held by the Treasury Solicitor differ to those held by the practitioners, have been included. Where possible, amounts have been verified by practitioners and adjusted where necessary.

Electoral Registration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will conduct research into the impact of functional illiteracy on electoral registration rates.

Harriet Harman: The Electoral Commission published its report Understanding Electoral Registration in September this year. Although the research did not specifically address the impact of functional illiteracy, it found some significant gaps in people's awareness and knowledge of the registration process.
	There are no plans to conduct research into the impact of functional illiteracy on electoral registration rates; but my Department is working with key stakeholders on improving the annual canvass form by making it clearer, simpler and easy to understand.

Juries

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the selection of juries is representative of the ethnic profile of the local population.

Harriet Harman: The principle of random selection from the electoral register should mean that the composition of juries, whether in terms of ethnic background, age, gender, sexuality or religion is broadly representative of the general population. Jurors are summoned from geographic catchment areas within 1 hours travelling distance from the Court. The Government is committed to ensuring that juries reflect the full diversity of the communities they serve. The Electoral Administration Bill currently before Parliament includes provisions aimed at improving both the quality and the coverage of the electoral register. In addition the Get London Registered campaign will target young people and black and ethnic minority groups to ensure that they are properly represented on electoral registers.

Sentencing Guidelines

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent guidelines her Department has issued to judges about consistency of sentencing; and if she will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: I have been asked to reply.
	It is not the role of Government to issue guidelines on sentencing. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 set up the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC), an independent body chaired by the Lord Chief Justice, which is tasked with framing guidelines on sentencing. One of the factors to which the council must have regard when framing its guidelines is the need to promote a consistency of approach in sentencing. When sentencing an offender, courts must have regard to any guidelines which are relevant to the case.
	The SGC has to date issued guidelines on Reduction in Sentence for a Guilty Plea, Overarching Principles: Seriousness, New Sentences: Criminal Justice Act 2003 and, most recently, Manslaughter by Reason of Provocation.

Council Tax (Kent)

Adam Holloway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of spending by (a) Kent county council and (b) Gravesham borough council was financed from council tax in each financial year since 199697.

Phil Woolas: The percentage of Revenue Expenditure by Kent county council and Gravesham borough council that has been financed from council tax in each financial year since 199697 is as follows.
	
		Percentage
		
			  Kent county council Gravesham borough council 
		
		
			 199697 24.3 19.4 
			 199798 25.5 19.5 
			 199899 27.5 26.0 
			 19992000 27.8 25.0 
			 200001 27.9 34.0 
			 200102 27.9 29.1 
			 200203 28.5 35.1 
			 200304 29.4 33.9 
			 200405 29.4 35.3 
			 200506 28.8 32.3 
		
	
	The data are as reported by local authorities and are taken from Revenue Summary (RS) returns for 199697 to 200304, and Revenue Account budget (RA) returns for 200405 and 200506.
	The definition of council expenditure used here is that expenditure funded from Aggregate External Finance (AEF), council tax and authorities' reserves.
	Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in the method of reporting the information. In particular, the outturn data for 199697 to 200203 have been calculated on a non-FRS (Financial Reporting Standard) 17 basis whilst the outturn data for 200304 have been calculated on an FRS 17 basis. The budget data for 200405 and 200506 are a mix of FRS 17 and non-FRS 17. This is because for their 200405 and 200506 budget forms local authorities, after consultation, were given the option to complete their forms either on a non-FRS 17 basis or on an FRS 17 basis. Hence, figures for different years may not be directly comparable.

Departmental Estate

Vincent Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which buildings and sites used by his Department and related agencies (a) have ceased to be used in the last year and (b) will be closed under current plans for relocation.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Since November 2004 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has ceased to use offices on part 16th, entire 17th, and entire 18th floors of Portland House, Victoria. They were vacated in June 2005.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for three executive agencies, the Planning Inspectorate at Temple Quays, Bristol, the Fire Service College at Moreton-in-Marsh, and the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. None of the executive agencies has ceased the use of any buildings or sites in the last year.
	(b) The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has current plans to relocate Headquarters staff from its 4th and 5th floor offices at Allington Towers by April 2008. These offices will be closed and handed back to the leaseholder, the Home Office.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minster has served Notice on behalf of the First Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister to terminate the lease of industrial buildings used by the Fire and Rescue Service Directorate at Marchington, Staffordshire. The buildings will be closed and vacated by the end of June 2006 at the latest. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Civil Resilience Directorate occupies part of the Marchington buildings and is to be relocated to alternative leased premises.
	There are no current plans to relocate the three executive agencies.

Departmental Guidance (Evidence/Documentary Access)

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is with regard to (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Office giving evidence to the (i) Scottish Parliament, (ii) National Assembly for Wales and (iii) Northern Ireland Assembly committees; and to what categories of document he gives (A) full access, (B) restricted access and (C) no access to the (1) Scottish Parliament, (2) National Assembly for Wales, (3) Northern Ireland Assembly and (4) House of Commons Select Committees.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Requests for the attendance of Ministers or officials to give evidence to the devolved legislatures, and for the provision of information to the assemblies, will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This consideration will reflect: the principles set out in the Cabinet Office guidance Departmental Evidence and Response to Select Committees (July 2005); the policy outlined in the Department for Constitutional Affairs' Devolution Guidance Note 12 Attendance of UK Ministers and Officials at Committees of the devolved legislatures; and the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. The principles underlying the provision of information to House of Commons Select Committees are set out in Departmental Evidence and Response to Select Committees, particularly sections 4B and 4C.

Departmental Property

Michael Weir: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was paid by his Department in 200405 in rent for properties in (a) total, (b) each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK and (c) London.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and its agencies paid a total of 26,641,641 in rent for properties in 200405. Of this amount 6,134,681 was recovered from tenants or other Government Departments occupying the property. ODPM also paid 211,214 in respect of rent to other Government Departments whose property they occupied. All the properties are in England and the amount of rent paid in respect of the regions of the UK was as follows:
	
		
			
			 Region Rent Rent including where VAT paid 
		
		
			 London   
			 Eland House 12,350,000 14,511,250 
			 Ashdown House 7,000,000 7,000,000 
			 Portland House(112) 3,203,757 3,764,414 
			 Total London 22,553,757 25,275,664 
			
			 Eastern   
			 Hempstead House Hemel Hempstead 230,000 270,250 
			 Sheffield House, Stevenage 56,000 65,800 
			 Building 3 Garston 36,789 43,227 
			 Total Eastern 322,789 379,277 
			
			 North West   
			 West Point, Manchester 33,175 38,981 
			 1 High Street Glossop 10,000 10,000 
			 Total North West 43,175 48,981 
			 West Midlands   
			 Marchington Staffordshire Primary site 1,029,027 1,209,107 
			 Marchington Staffordshire Secondary site 142,893 167,899 
			 Total West Midlands 1,171,920 1,377,006 
			
			 South West   
			 Planning Inspectorate Temple Quay House,  Bristol 2,550,000 2,996,250 
			 South West Total 2,550,000 2,996,250 
			 England 26,641,641 30,077,178 
		
	
	(112) Serviced accommodation includes rent and other costs.
	This answer does not include buildings occupied by Government offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.

Designated Growth Areas

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2005, Official Report, columns 15012W, on designated growth areas, what procedures his Department will put in place to respond to rapid population growth within designated growth areas; and what evidential sources will be used to trigger such a procedure.

Yvette Cooper: The answer to question reference 31849 referred to two forms of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's (ODPM) funding, namely Growth Areas funding and local government funding.
	Growth Areas funding is being made available to support housing growth within the Growth Areas (including Thames Gateway). The 1.25 billion to be made available up to and including 200708 is based on the results of successive rounds of bidding and is not subject to further evidence on population growth.
	Local government funding allocations for 200607 and 200708 are currently being consulted upon. This years assessment takes account of population projections as this allows the 200607 and 200708 settlements to be more forward looking. Previously settlements have been based on the latest available mid-year estimates as the dominant drivers. This change should provide more support for areas experiencing rapid population growth. The population projections are prepared by the Office for National Statistics using a trend-based methodology which projects forward the population (using 2003 mid-year population estimates as the starting point) into the future.
	ODPM spending decisions for 200809 onwards are subject to future Spending Reviews. In its December 2005 response to Kate Barker's Review of Housing Supply, the Government announced that as part of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review it would undertake a cross-cutting review to:
	determine the social, transport and environmental infrastructure implications of housing growth in different spatial forms and locations;
	establish a framework for sustainable and cost-effective patterns of growth, including by examining the use of targeted investment through the Community Infrastructure Fund and Growth Areas funding to support the fastest-growing areas; and
	ensure that departmental resources across government are targeted appropriately for providing the national, regional and local infrastructure necessary to support future housing and population growth.
	The cross-cutting review provides an opportunity for evidence of the funding needs experienced by Growth Areas as a result of rapid housing growth to be taken into account in future spending decisions of ODPM and other Departments.

Green Belt

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how much land changing to residential use was within (a) the designated green belt and (b) greenfield land, in each year since 1997, broken down by region;
	(2)  how much land within the 1997 designated green belt changed to developed use in each year since 1997, broken down by region;
	(3)  how many new dwellings have been built within the 1997 designated green belt in each year since 1997, broken down by region.

Yvette Cooper: pursuant to the reply, 16 November 2005, Official Report, c.127578
	The available estimates are from Land Use Change Statistics, shown in the following tables. The numbers and table titles are unchanged but the units for the tables headed New dwellings within 1997 designated green belt, given previously as hectares, are corrected to dwellings. The order of the tables has also been changed to follow the order of the questions. The estimates for 2003 are provisional and are subject to revision. Figures are not shown for 1999 as the data received for that year were incomplete. Figures for 1997 to 2000 reflect planning policies and decisions made before this Government took office.
	
		Land changing to developed use within 1997 designated green belt Hectares
		
			  (a) All on designated green belt 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 North East 43 20 11 143 18 47 13 21 18 
			 North West 331 329 367 488 401 223 367 142 222 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 253 283 182 481 437 164 131 286 285 
			 East Midlands 65 132 197 97 93 92 102 28 128 
			 West Midlands 173 210 286 130 125 328 155 129 335 
			 East of England 172 183 159 196 238 273 319 169 339 
			 London 19 28 44 95 64 37 125 36 64 
			 South East 228 244 482 395 218 554 309 143 151 
			 South West 48 145 207 58 85 132 75 35 29 
			   
			 England 1,332 1,573 1,935 2,084 1,678 1,850 1,596 988 1,570 
			   
			 Proportion of all green belt (percentage) 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.13 0.10 0.11 0.10 0.06 0.10 
		
	
	
		Hectares
		
			  (b) On greenfield land (not previously developed) 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 North East 14 15 7 109 8 45 6 16 10 
			 North West 197 150 243 315 262 101 237 53 59 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 152 102 75 274 282 60 52 124 133 
			 East Midlands 46 60 160 61 74 70 58 13 60 
			 West Midlands 101 76 143 69 62 67 35 52 266 
			   
			 East of England 83 84 87 150 71 65 90 100 120 
			 London 12 14 19 48 25 14 42 10 31 
			 South East 112 103 104 204 69 389 90 40 57 
			 South West 28 92 160 42 53 91 45 14 8 
			   
			 England 746 696 999 1,273 904 902 656 421 744 
			   
			 Proportion of all green belt (percentage) 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.05 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.05 
		
	
	
		Land changing to residential use within 1997 designated green belt Hectares
		
			  (a) All on designated green belt 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 North East 3 3 1 2 7 1 0 2 3 
			 North West 51 46 39 60 59 64 43 49 53 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 25 27 21 40 42 28 41 50 46 
			 East Midlands 9 10 13 10 7 20 17 6 9 
			 West Midlands 24 27 29 33 31 38 31 56 35 
			   
			 East of England 40 50 41 37 49 58 68 36 46 
			 London 4 5 6 9 17 16 10 23 15 
			 South East 62 52 49 67 54 75 64 52 55 
			 South West 9 14 8 10 16 14 13 9 9 
			   
			 England 226 234 207 267 281 313 288 283 272 
			   
			 Proportion of all green belt (percentage) 0.014 0.014 0.013 0.016 0.017 0.019 0.017 0.017 0.016 
		
	
	
		Hectares
		
			  (b) On greenfield land (not previously developed) 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 North East 2 2 1 2 7 1 0 1 2 
			 North West 26 17 27 36 29 23 17 20 25 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 18 17 15 24 25 21 20 25 22 
			 East Midlands 6 6 4 4 4 6 12 3 6 
			 West Midlands 15 15 19 14 17 22 17 24 14 
			   
			 East of England 11 14 12 10 10 22 13 13 20 
			 London 1 2 0 0 7 6 3 8 4 
			 South East 18 10 12 28 19 28 14 17 13 
			 South West 3 9 4 6 10 7 4 5 2 
			   
			 England 101 93 94 123 127 135 99 115 109 
			   
			 Proportion of all green belt (percentage) 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.008 0.006 0.007 0.007 
		
	
	
		New dwellings within 1997 designated green belt Dwellings
		
			  (a) All on designated green belt 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 North East 52 23 22 50 140 19 11 27 70 
			 North West 879 771 730 1,284 1,049 1,350 799 1,019 1,565 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 373 423 316 630 673 508 891 939 815 
			 East Midlands 143 125 181 194 143 297 289 117 120 
			 West Midlands 390 533 474 610 507 731 817 879 653 
			   
			 East of England 552 580 499 479 846 956 1,181 485 795 
			 London 89 153 171 182 441 384 218 405 287 
			 South East 653 733 553 868 802 1,175 950 734 1,053 
			 South West 124 211 109 159 309 271 243 199 163 
			   
			 England 3,255 3,552 3,055 4,456 4,910 5,691 5,399 4,804 5,521 
			   
			 Proportion of all new dwellings (percentage) 2 3 2 3 4 4 4 4 3 
		
	
	
		Dwellings
		
			  (b) On greenfield land (not previously developed) 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 North East 46 20 19 34 128 17 2 19 45 
			 North West 472 285 486 746 486 355 296 329 682 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 289 269 173 336 361 373 462 361 405 
			 East Midlands 93 77 67 93 77 39 148 39 65 
			 West Midlands 220 313 288 276 225 372 462 333 250 
			   
			 East of England 119 134 132 107 135 331 198 145 286 
			 London 56 67 6 3 238 131 72 127 79 
			 South East 172 117 147 301 218 278 134 194 322 
			 South West 53 135 46 93 195 90 32 76 34 
			   
			 England 1,520 1,417 1,364 1,989 2,063 1,986 1,806 1,623 2,168 
			   
			 Proportion of all new dwellings (percentage) 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1

High Hedges

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many orders have been made by local councils in (a) England, (b) Staffordshire and (c) Tamworth constituency to remove hedges under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

Yvette Cooper: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) on 7 December 2005, Official Report, column 1428W.

Housing

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the housing capital allocations for each local authority in Hampshire were in (a) 200405 and (b) each of the previous four years.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is set out as follows alongside funding for affordable housing provided to registered social landlords through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP):
	
		
			  000 
			  200001(114) 200102(114) 200203(114) 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Basingstoke and Deane housing capital 1,198 938 1,016 845 898 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 174 204 217 294 360 
			 ADP(116) 1,443 1,459 1,922 13,718 6,455 
			   
			 East Hampshire housing capital 1,172 869 921 732 (117) 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 143 143 169 108 226 
			 ADP(116) 1,030 1,246 1,978 8,613 5,907 
			   
			 Eastleigh housing capital 795 674 692 577 (117) 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 148 150 206 360 270 
			 ADP(116) 787 1,592 2,437 10,874 5,068 
			   
			 Fareham housing capital 1,490 637 704 594 650 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  1,628 1,652 1,664 1,611 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 162 168 180 140 159 
			 ADP(116) 569 1,111 1,205 553 3,809 
			   
			 Gosport housing capital 2,003 762 831 718 791 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  2,341 2,380 2,411 2,322 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 142 120 147 138 126 
			 ADP(116) 727 169 1,548 5,755 2,160 
			 Hart housing capital 440 362 372 324 371 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 98 160 97 159 150 
			 ADP(116) 1,531 404 1,193 8,897 3,345 
			   
			 Havant housing capital 1,302 916 970 852 (117) 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 300 300 272 420 420 
			 ADP(116) 1,272 1,691 931 1,722 3,395 
			   
			 New Forest housing capital 3,850 1,745 1,833 1,409 1,435 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  3,091 3,157 3,214 3,140 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 220 240 361 240 240 
			 ADP(116) 3,451 2,189 1,907 5,973 2,369 
			   
			 Portsmouth housing capital 12,619 5,336 5,164 3,641 3,854 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  10,751 11,108 11,341 10,962 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 321 512 419 458 475 
			 ADP(116) 4,485 4,638 3,577 5,490 6,757 
			   
			 Rushmoor housing capital 1,050 851 942 765 805 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 105 105 121 90 120 
			 ADP(116) 953 1,299 1,726 6,790 8,610 
			   
			 Southampton housing capital 13,704 6,079 5,828 4,264 4,367 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  11,407 11,776 12,078 11,788 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 349 360 443 459 515 
			 ADP(116) 5,304 6,493 7,592 12,247 10,998 
			   
			 Test Valley housing capital 2,401 705 783 624 648 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 112 112 173 195 240 
			 ADP(116) 840 1,672 1,381 3,945 2,937 
			   
			 Winchester housing capital 2,516 803 906 731 853 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(115)  3,096 3,189 3,275 3,215 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 50 102 165 165 270 
			 ADP(116) 354 669 4,097 6,241 16,307 
		
	
	(114) Includes an element of funding to be met from council's capital receipts.
	(115) Includes funding provided through the Starter Home Initiative and Challenge Fund.
	(116) Funding to meet the on-going costs of maintaining council housing.
	(117) The authority agreed to resources being switched to the Housing Corporation for provision of additional affordable housing in their area.

Housing

Danny Alexander: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the percentage of 18 to 25-year-olds, excluding students, living independently in (a) self-contained accommodation and (b) accommodation where some facilities are shared.

Yvette Cooper: Excluding students, the percentage of 18 to 25-year-olds in England who were living independently (i.e. they were not in a household that included one of their parents) was 48 per cent. according to the 200405 Survey of English Housing. Of these, about 97 per cent. lived in self-contained accommodation and about 3 per cent. in accommodation where some facilities were shared.

Local Government

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what responses on the local government finance consultation he has received from (a) Ribble Valley borough council and (b) Lancashire county council; and when the responses were received.

Phil Woolas: Lancashire county council responded on 10 October to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's public consultation on formula grant distribution. In addition, I met Lancashire county council on 5 October. No response was received from Ribble Valley borough council. Consultation on the local government settlement for 200607 runs from 5 December 2005 to 11 January 2006.

Revenue Transfers

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was transferred from (a) housing revenue accounts and (b) right to buy revenues of all local authorities in each of the last three years; and for what purposes it was transferred in each case.

Yvette Cooper: The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) system is redistributive, and is supported by the Exchequer. The Exchequer adds to the surpluses collected from some authorities in order to subsidise those who would otherwise make a deficit. The intention is that all authorities should be able to offer a similar standard of service while charging affordable rents.
	The figures for the last three years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 
			 Financial year Contribution from authorities assumed to have a surplus Additional funding provided by Exchequer Total subsidy paid to authorities assumed to have a deficit 
		
		
			 200203 654,659,330 252,084,486 906,743,816 
			 200304 706,268,335 187,928,643 894,196,978 
			 200405 620,543,656 82,879,824 703,423,480 
		
	
	Prior to 200405, authorities had to set aside 75 per cent. of the net capital receipts from right to buy sales to repay debt (if they had debt). Less debt meant less debt charges for Government to subsidise, allowing the Government to support more new investment where the need was greatest.
	From April 2004 set-aside was abolished. All authorities were required to pay 75 per cent. of their net capital receipts from right to buy to the Government so that it could be used fund new investment. Receipts from debt-free authorities are used to support Sustainable Communities programmes including the construction of new affordable housing and the improvement of existing housing. Receipts from authorities with debt are not hypothecated to any particular purpose.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) collects data on total pooled receipts and total amounts set aside by housing authorities. These figures include the amounts arising from right to buy sales alongside amounts relating to other housing capital receipts, but the amounts relating to right to buy sales are not separately identified. The available data is as follows:
	
		
			billion 
			 Financial year Total set-aside Total pooled 
		
		
			 200203 1.9 n/a 
			 200304 (118) n/a 
			 200405 n/a 1.7 
		
	
	(118) ODPM did not collect data on set-aside for 200304 because, with the abolition of set-aside, there was no longer a need to collect audited set-aside data.
	Government housing capital investment totalled 4.5 billion in 200405.

Walking (Planning Implications)

David Kidney: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the planning implications of the promotion of walking.

Yvette Cooper: Government policy is to seek to reduce the reliance on the private car by promoting alternative forms of transport, such as public transport, walking and cycling. Planning guidance is given in Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG) 13 Transport. This says walking is the most important mode of travel at the local level and offers the greatest potential to replace short car trips. Local authorities should consider walking within their local transport plans, which in turn inform local development frameworks (LDF). With reference to town centres, Planning for Town Centres, Guidance on Design and Implementation tools, which accompanies Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 6 Planning for town centres, states that local authorities should seek to improve the quality, convenience and safety of access on foot, by bicycle and public transport. It advises that further guidance is given in Walking and Cycling Action Plan (DfT, TINF391).
	There is no national assessment of the planning implications of the promotion of walking but PPS1 Delivering Sustainable Development makes it clear that planning authorities should ensure their plans and policies are properly based on analysis and evidence.

A26

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the Department for Regional Development Road Service works on the A26 to conclude; and what the expected final cost is.

Shaun Woodward: The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 19 December 2005
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding when he expects the Department for Regional Development Roads Service works on the A26 to conclude, and what the expected final cost is. I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	Current work on the A26 at Ballynaloob between Ballymena and Ballymoney involves the construction of a 2+1 carriageway to create a safe overtaking opportunity for Ballymoney bound traffic, starting at Dunloy crossroads and continuing for some 1.6 kilometres towards Ballymoney. This is part of our programme to improve overtaking opportunities on single carriageways by widening of stretches to provide two lanes of traffic in one direction and one lane in the other.
	An adjacent scheme to improve the Dunloy crossroads is being constructed at the same time. This is being undertaken in light of the poor safety record at the existing junction.
	It is proposed to open the A26 at Ballynaloob to two-way traffic by 23 December 2005. However, finishing-off works including hedge and tree planting will continue for a few months after Christmas but most of this will be undertaken without the need for a diversion. The total cost for both schemes is expected to be 3.3 million.
	I hope this information is helpful.

A6

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the dualling of the A6 between Londonderry and Dungiven to (a) commence and (b) be concluded.

Shaun Woodward: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Malcolm McKibbin, dated 19 December 2005
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding when he expects the dualling of the A6 between Londonderry and Dungiven to (a) commence and (b) be concluded. 38340
	I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	Roads Service commissioned consultants in April 2005 to identify a corridor for the future dualling of the A6 between Castledawson and Londonderry. It is envisaged that this study will be completed in spring 2006 when the development of the scheme will move to a more detailed phase (Stage 2 Assessment) and public consultation process.
	As announced by the Secretary of State, on 13 December 2005, it is hoped that the scheme will commence on site in the latter half of the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan 2015 period.
	At this preliminary stage of scheme development, it is not possible to predict with any degree of accuracy how long this scheme, given its magnitude, would take to construct. We will advise you of likely construction duration when we are in a better position to assess it with reasonable confidence.
	I hope this information is helpful.

Departmental Costs

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) salary bill was and (b) administrative costs were for his Department in (i) Northern Ireland and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London in 200405.

Shaun Woodward: All the costs of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) relate to Northern Ireland as per the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses.
	The salary bill and administrative costs for the NIO, excluding its Agencies and NDPBs, for 200405, were as follows:
	
		
			   
		
		
			 Salary bill 38,348,965 
			 Administration (non-staff) costs(120) 33,617,207 
		
	
	(120) Administration costs cover the costs of all central Government administration other than the costs of direct frontline service provision or support activities that are directly associated with frontline service delivery.

Departmental Savings

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what administrative savings have been made by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Shaun Woodward: Administrative savings are a target in the Northern Ireland Office's (NIO) Public Service Agreement (PSA).
	1998 Comprehensive Spending Review period (1999 2000, 200001 and 200102)
	Because of political uncertainties and doubts about the range of responsibilities for which the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland would be directly accountable to Parliament following devolution, the NIO did not publish a PSA in the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review period (19992000 to 200102) and there was therefore no target to secure administrative savings. Actual savings made in this period were used to offset in-year pressures to allow the Department to live within its baseline allocations.
	2000 Spending Review period (200102, 200203 and 200304)
	The NIO published its first PSA as part of the 2000 Spending Review, setting out the Department's targets. This included a target of securing on-going savings of 3 per cent. in Core Departmental administration costs. This was met.
	2002 Spending Review period (200304, 20045 and 200506)
	The PSA for this period included a target of securing on-going savings of 2.5 per cent. in Core Departmental administration costs. This was met.
	2004 Spending Review period (200506, 200607 and 200708)
	During the 2004 Spending Review period, the NIO is committed to delivering 2.5 per cent. year on year efficiency targets. Efficiency Delivery Plans are in place to meet this target and the Department published an Efficiency Technical Note on 5 December.

Departmental Staff

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Northern Ireland Civil Service staff in (a) Enniskillen, (b) Dungannon and (c) Ballymena are employed at (i) AA, (ii) AO, (iii) EO2, (iv) EO1, (v) Staff Officer and (vi) Deputy Principal grade.

Angela Smith: The information in respect of permanent and casual staff in the 11 Northern Ireland Departments as at 11 January 2005 (the latest date for which figures are available) is not available in the form requested. The information in respect of Fermanagh, Dungannon and Ballymena district council areas is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  District council area 
			 Grade level Fermanagh Dungannon Ballymena 
		
		
			 DP 14 3 46 
			 SO 37 8 88 
			 EOI 75 22 170 
			 EOII 72 52 64 
			 AO 127 73 179 
			 AA 61 39 93 
		
	
	Note:
	Staff on career break are excluded from this analysis.

Free Travel Scheme

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what operational issues are being discussed by officials in the Department of Regional Development with their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland regarding the All Ireland Free Travel Scheme.

Shaun Woodward: The main operational issues being discussed are those of identification of eligible people, ticketing and recording of journeys and the reimbursement of transport operators.

Hospital Car Parking

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the amount charged by local health trusts for visitors to park their cars in dedicated car parks affiliated to the hospitals they visit is; whether in respect of each hospital these car parks are (a) private finance initiative operated and (b) solely the responsibility of the respective trust; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The information requested is set out in the following table. Visitor parking at the Royal Group of Hospitals is operated by private finance initiative. Visitor parking at the other hospitals listed is operated by the trusts.
	
		
			 Hour  
		
		
			 Belfast City Hospital  
			 01 0.50 
			 12 1.00 
			 24 2.00 
			 46 4.00 
			 624 8.00 
			 Lost cards 8.00 
			   
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital  
			 024 1.00 
			   
			 Royal Group of Hospitals  
			 04 1.00 
			 46 1.80 
			 6 3.60 
			 Lost cards 3.60 
			   
			 Ulster Hospital  
			 01 0.60 
			 14 1.20 
			 46 2.40 
			 68 3.00 
			 824 4.00 
			 Lost cards 5.00

Research and Development Grants

Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many research and development grants have been awarded to companies in Northern Ireland under the (a) SMART Micro, (b) SMART, (c) START-company only, (d) START-partnership, (e) COMPETE-Phase 1 and (f) COMPETE-Phase 2 programmes in each year for which figures are available; what the total value was of such grants in each year; what the total value is of private sector contributions to funded projects in each year and category; and what the equivalent information is for predecessor schemes in each of the previous five years.

Angela Smith: The following table details the total value of the grants awarded from 1 April 2002 (inception of Invest NI) to date. Prior to that, records were held by individual organisations and are not readily available.
	
		
			  200203 200304 200405 200506 to 7 December 2005 
		
		
			 SMART Micro 
			 Number of grants awarded 0 3 1 0 
			 Total grant awarded () 0 28,000 10,000 0 
			 Private sector contribution () 0 30,440 23,000 0 
			  
			 SMART 
			 Number of grants awarded 4 16 10 8 
			 Total grant awarded () 264,937 671,538 478,932 379,457 
			 Private sector contribution () 369,502 496,629 409,840 269,155 
			  
			 STARTcompany only 
			 Number of grants awarded 3 1 6 2 
			 Total grant awarded () 4,465,670 1,725,000 5,703,965 2,675,787 
			 Private sector contribution () 8,705,561 1,867,423 11,398,328 3,604,887 
			  
			 STARTpartnership 
			 Number of grants awarded 1 2 0 2 
			 Total grant awarded () 160,557 520,149 0 965,868 
			 Private sector contribution () 240,836 945,404 0 1,448,892 
			  
			 COMPETE Ph 1 
			 Number of grants awarded 89 61 33 12 
			 Total grant awarded () 1,039,489 696,014 375,511 139,509 
			 Private sector contribution () 1,115,971 756,835 439,789 139,503 
			  
			 COMPETE Ph 2 
			 Number of grants awarded 58 52 43 13 
			 Total grant awarded () 6,188,496 5,103,581 4,584,297 2,108,304 
			 Private sector contribution () 13,789,014 11,999,447 9,172,070 4,456,818

Tennis

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public funding has been spent on (a) tennis and (b) coaching young tennis players in the Province in each of the last 10 years.

David Hanson: The Sports Council for Northern Ireland (SCNI) is responsible for the development of Sport in NI including the distribution of funding to individual sports. The main sources of funding it provides are Exchequer and lottery.
	The Sports Council for Northern Ireland (SCNI) has given the following Exchequer and lottery funding to tennis activities in each of the last ten years.
	
		SCNI Exchequer funding 
		
			  Exchequer Lottery 
		
		
			 199596 (122) 222,600 
			 199697 (122) 187,750 
			 199798 (122) 583,473 
			 199899 (122) 346,260 
			 19992000 3,747.50 227,573 
			 200001 6,112 0 
			 200102 16,226.50 112,200 
			 200203 11,320 111,700 
			 200304 44,304 63,958 
			 200405 55,300 0 
		
	
	(122) No information available.
	In addition the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP), Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and Department for Social Development (DSD) have provided the following funding:
	
		DFP funding 
		
			  Tennis Tennis and other sports 
		
		
			 199697 2,500 0 
			 199798 0 12,000 
			 199899 3,040 0 
			 19992000 5,000 0 
			 200001 0 0 
			 200102 0 0 
			 200203 0 0 
			 200304 0 0 
			 200405 10,000 0 
			 200506 0 0 
		
	
	Includes Peace II funding to other sports projects.
	
		DARD funding 
		
			  Amount of funding  Reason for funding 
		
		
			 199596 0 n/a 
			 199697 0 n/a 
			 199798 94 2nd instalment of Woodland Grant Scheme (0.3ha planted in 1992 Loughgall Tennis Club) 
			 199899 0 n/a 
			 19992000 0 n/a 
			 200001 0 n/a 
			 200102 0 n/a 
			 200203 48 3rd and final instalment of Woodland Grant scheme as above 
			 200304 0 n/a 
			 200405 0 n/a 
		
	
	
		DSD funding 
		
			  Amount of funding 
		
		
			 199697 0 
			 199798 0 
			 199899 0 
			 19992000 82,854 
			 200001 92,945 
			 200102 0 
			 200203 0 
			 200304 0 
			 200405 0 
			 200506 (to date) 0

Water Service

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the standing charge was for each diameter of water supply pipe in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The chief executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Katharine Bryan, dated 19 December 2005
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what the standing charge was for each diameter of water supply pipe in each of the last five years. (38600). I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Water Service.
	The table below lists the standing charges for all water supply pipe sizes for the past five years.
	
		
			   
			 Pipe size (mm) 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 
		
		
			 Up to 15 46 46 46 46 47 
			 1620 69 69 69 69 71 
			 2125 92 92 92 92 94 
			 2640 173 173 173 173 177 
			 4150 289 289 289 289 296 
			 5175 578 578 578 578 593 
			 76100 1,040 1,040 1,040 1,040 1,066 
			 100 1,502 1,502 1,502 1,502 1,540 
		
	
	Standing charges are not payable where the internal diameter of the supply pipe is 20 millimetres or less, provided that (i) consumption for the period is less than the domestic allowance of 200 cubic metres per year where the allowance applies; or (ii) consumption is nil if the domestic allowance does not apply.

Alcohol

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished consultant episodes relating to alcohol there have been in England in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) patients aged under 18 years and (b) patients aged 18 years and over, (i) in total and (ii) broken down by strategic health authority.

Caroline Flint: The information in the following table gives finished consultant episodes relating to alcohol in England in each year from 1997 to 2004, for patients under 18 years and patients aged 18 years and over. This is by strategic health authority and by total.
	
		Counts of finished consultant episodes where there was a primary diagnosis code for selected alcohol related diseases
		
			  199798 199899 
			 Strategic health authority of residence Aged under 18 Aged 18 and over Age not known Aged under 18 Aged 18 and over Age not known 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic HA 152 1,188  115 1,385 1 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic HA 159 785 1 148 843  
			 Essex Strategic HA 56 871 1 48 798  
			 North West London Strategic HA 52 1,796 5 47 1,847 14 
			 North Central London Strategic HA 43 1,060 4 28 1,034 4 
			 North East London Strategic HA 47 1,117 2 48 1,129 1 
			 South East London Strategic HA 72 1,441 2 48 1,364  
			 South West London Strategic HA 110 905 4 91 860 1 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic HA 240 L428 9 195 1,886 1 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic HA 282 1,156  214 1,252 2 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic HA 110 583 2 199 1,492 3 
			 West Yorkshire Strategic HA 225 1,609 3 207 1,464 2 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic HA 263 2,421 2 222 2,339 1 
			 Greater Manchester Strategic HA 280 2,995 1 252 2,833 1 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic HA 345 4,069 2 299 3,774 3 
			 Thames Valley Strategic HA 89 1,106 3 102 1,028 5 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic HA 112 1,351 2 119 1,579 2 
			 Kent and Medway Strategic HA 125 692 1 125 725 1 
			 Surrey and Sussex Strategic HA 173 1,629 7 173 1,581 8 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic HA 141 1,482  150 1,505 2 
			 South West Peninsula Strategic HA 151 1,257  108 1,154  
			 Dorset and Somerset Strategic HA 95 835  95 839 1 
			 South Yorkshire Strategic HA 128 953  148 1,016  
			 Trent Strategic HA 247 2,006  205 2,400 1 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic HA 122 878 2 116 1,111  
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic HA 182 1,344  142 1,256 1 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country Strategic HA 212 2,550 5 208 2,222 1 
			 West Midlands South Strategic HA 183 J472 1 175 1,292 6 
			 Scotland 4 21  2 29  
			 EnglandNot Otherwise Specified 10 462 14
			 Wales 17 157 1 23 235 50 
			 Foreign (incl. Isle of Man and Channel Islands) 4 37  10 41  
			 Not known 94 1,392 711 20 1,021 43 
			 Northern Ireland  7   17  
			 Total 4,525 43,055 785 4,082 43,351 155 
		
	
	
		
			  19992000 200001 
			 Strategic health authority of residence Aged under 18 Aged 18 and over Age not known Aged under 18 Aged 18 and over Age not known 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic HA 145 1,574  147 1,695 30 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic HA 158 916 2 124 774  
			 Essex Strategic HA 58 902  61 955 2 
			 North West London Strategic HA 60 1,445 11 59 1,231 3 
			 North Central London Strategic HA 53 1,044 7 51 966 2 
			 North East London Strategic HA 56 1,244 1 32 1,072 1 
			 South East London Strategic HA 73 1,516 2 53 1,308 1 
			 South West London Strategic HA 100 1,021 2 114 996 3 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic HA 201 1,931 2 220 1,872 1 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic HA 239 1,274 1 242 1,269 1 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic HA 253 1,592 2 225 1,412 2 
			 West Yorkshire Strategic HA 238 1,660 3 168 1,874  
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic HA 315 2,216 3 296 2,239 2 
			 Greater Manchester Strategic HA 295 3,032  343 3,094 2 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic HA 331 3,976 3 322 4,317 2 
			 Thames Valley Strategic HA 112 1,027 2 70 1,113 10 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic HA 140 1,616  137 1,619 2 
			 Kent and Medway Strategic HA 129 808 3 102 805 2 
			 Surrey and Sussex Strategic HA 211 1,439 9 238 1,407 13 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic HA 127 1,513 3 123 1,296  
			 South West Peninsula Strategic HA 137 1,239 1 112 1,513  
			 Dorset and Somerset Strategic HA 90 1,066 1 98 890 1 
			 South Yorkshire Strategic HA 171 1,042  142 1,193  
			 Trent Strategic HA 260 2,754  236 2,679  
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic HA 126 1,084 1 101 1,003  
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic HA 169 1,219 1 136 1,167  
			 Birmingham and the Black Country Strategic HA 287 2,240 6 274 2,303  
			 West Midlands South Strategic HA 204 1,410  196 1,324 1 
			 Scotland 6 42  4 31  
			 EnglandNot Otherwise Specified5 573 8 
			 Wales 26 266 8 16 113  
			 Foreign (incl. Isle of Man and Channel Islands) 13 51  10 50 2 
			 Not known 37 1,154 15 32 581 26 
			 Northern Ireland  9   9  
			 Total 4,820 45,322 89 4,489 44,743 117 
		
	
	
		
			  200102 200203 
			 Strategic health authority of residence Aged under 18 Aged 18 and over Age not known Aged under 18 Aged 18 and over Age not known 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic HA 133 1,759 1 116J 1,885  
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic HA 177 916 2 148 979 1 
			 Essex Strategic HA 43 970  54 1,013  
			 North West London Strategic HA 76 1,423 28 60 1,637 3 
			 North Central London Strategic HA 48 1,032 3 59 1,141 2 
			 North East London Strategic HA 52 1,199 2 65 1,279 1 
			 South East London Strategic HA 48 1,229  63 1,578 1 
			 South West London Strategic HA 128 866 2 147 987 1 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic HA 172 1,950  161 1,950  
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic HA 186 1,328  123 1,224  
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic HA 225 1,443 4 170 1,437 1 
			 West Yorkshire Strategic HA 195 1,888 1 204 1,927  
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic HA 291 2,653 3 275 2,584 4 
			 Greater Manchester Strategic HA 289 3,310  273 3,266 2 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic HA 325 4,921 3 335 5,039  
			 Thames Valley Strategic HA 132 1,102 10 91 1,181  
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic HA 120 1,687 1 153 1,837  
			 Kent and Medway Strategic HA 154 798 1 117 948 1 
			 Surrey and Sussex Strategic HA 300 1,501 7 255 1,748 11 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic HA 144 1,460 1 127 1,591 1 
			 South West Peninsula Strategic HA 111 1,661  132 1,797  
			 Dorset and Somerset Strategic HA 97 895 1 87 928 1 
			 South Yorkshire Strategic HA 104 1,069 5 90 1,235 4 
			 Trent Strategic HA 260 2,548  226 2,517  
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic HA 92 943  87 1,148 1 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic HA 154 1,223  145 1,303  
			 Birmingham and the Black Country Strategic HA 248 2,574 1 188 2,797 2 
			 West Midlands South Strategic HA 142 1,205  143 1,473  
			 Scotland 2 38  6 29  
			 EnglandNot Otherwise Specified 7 627 6 8 676 11 
			 Wales 23 140  18 125  
			 Foreign (incl. Isle of Man and Channel Islands) 7 63 1 11 67  
			 Not known 43 671 42 28 549 37 
			 Northern Ireland  9   13  
			 Total 4,528 47,101 125 4,165 49,888 85 
		
	
	
		
			  200304 
			 Strategic health authority of residence Aged under 18 Aged 18 and over Age not known 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic HA 147 2,206  
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic HA 134 1,140  
			 Essex Strategic HA 64 1,238 1 
			 North West London Strategic HA 87 1,771 4 
			 North Central London Strategic HA 62 1,213 2 
			 North East London Strategic HA 86 1,508 1 
			 South East London Strategic HA 89 1,736  
			 South West London Strategic HA 150 1,225 1 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic HA 119 2,068 2 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic HA 143 1,554  
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic HA 253 1,661  
			 West Yorkshire Strategic HA 186 2,076  
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic HA 253 2,836 1 
			 Greater Manchester Strategic HA 345 3,860  
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic HA 366 5,388 1 
			 Thames Valley Strategic HA 119 1,260  
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic HA 186 1,842 1 
			 Kent and Medway Strategic HA 148 1,037 1 
			 Surrey and Sussex Strategic HA 269 1,825 6 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic HA 173 1,808 1 
			 South West Peninsula Strategic HA 203 2,012 10 
			 Dorset and Somerset Strategic HA 86 1,022  
			 South Yorkshire Strategic HA 102 1,506  
			 Trent Strategic HA 227 3,049  
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic HA 97 1,484 1 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic HA 185 1,572  
			 Birmingham and the Black Country Strategic HA 241 2,849 5 
			 West Midlands South Strategic HA 152 1,447 1 
			 Scotland 6 60  
			 EnglandNot Otherwise Specified 17 831 7 
			 Wales 12 151  
			 Foreign (incl. Isle of Man and Channel Islands) 9 79 6 
			 Not known 30 518 39 
			 Northern Ireland  24  
			 Total 4,746 55,856 91 
		
	
	Note:
	Alcohol related diseases defined as following ICD-10 codes recorded in primary diagnosis:
	F10: Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol
	K70: Alcoholic liver disease
	T51: Toxic effect of alcohol
	NHS Hospitals, England 199798 to 200304

Ambulance Service

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times East Midlands ambulance response times in North Nottinghamshire have been in excess of 30 minutes in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 12 December 2005
	The information requested is not centrally collected. The data which the Department does collect on ambulance response times is published in the statistical bulletin, Ambulance services, England: 200405. This is available in the Library and on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/36/79/04113679.pdf.

Ambulance Service

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the level of demand on Hampshire Ambulance Trust for ambulance services between midnight and four am on 4 December 2005 compared with the corresponding time and date in 2004.

Caroline Flint: This information is not collected centrally. The data which the Department does collect on ambulance response times is published in the statistical bulletin, Ambulance services, England: 200405. This is available in the Library and on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/36/79/04113679.pdf

Carers

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to promote a better understanding of the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 in England with respect to (a) individual assessments for carers and (b) the role of local authorities in working in partnership.

Liam Byrne: The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 has been warmly welcomed by carers and the organisations that represent them.
	The Act requires local authorities to inform carers that they may be entitled to an assessment of their needs. The Act also requires that when a local authority requests another pubic authority, such as an education, housing or health body, for assistance in planning services for a carer, that authority must give due consideration to that request.
	Monitoring is being undertaken through the Commission for Social Care Inspection's performance assessment framework and data on carers' services is being collected. However, it is too early to have hard data on the effect of the new Act on carers at this stage.

Children's Hospices

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to enforce passporting of funding by primary care trusts to children's hospices.

Liam Byrne: In line with our guidance National Standards, Local Action in the three years to March 2008 80 per cent. of national health service funding will go direct to primary care trusts (PCTs) to give them control in shaping services to meet local needs. PCTs, along with their local partners and stakeholders, are in the best position to judge how the available funding can be used effectively in providing a range of palliative care services for children and young people.
	On the 29 November, we launched a guide for the commissioners of palliative care for children and young people Commissioning Children's and Young People's Palliative Care Services. This practical guide will stimulate improvements in commissioning and promote quality care for children, young people and their families, in a range of settings, for example, palliative care at home, in hospital or in a hospice.

Cholesterol

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps are being taken to treat adults who suffer from high cholesterol;
	(2)  what measures the Government are taking to encourage adults to take responsibility for their cholesterol levels.

Caroline Flint: The Government provides practical guidance on how consumers can reduce the saturated fat in their diets through healthy eating advice, and increase physical activity. The Choosing Health White Paper, food and health action plan and physical activity plan all set out actions to deliver improvements in diet and physical activity.
	The first route of managing raised cholesterol levels is through lifestyle modification. If required, this can be followed by medication in the form of statins. The quality and outcomes framework of the new general practitioner (GP) contract also includes indicators that encourage GPs to measure and control cholesterol in patients with cardiovascular disease, including diabetes.
	The Government are also committed to support people by a new kind of personal health resource in the form of national health service health trainers, who will work with individuals to develop personal health plans as a tool to identify their own priorities for health to make necessary lifestyle changes.

Cholesterol

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to communicate the risk factors for heart disease to the general public.

Caroline Flint: The Department, working with other non-governmental organisations, has strong communications programmes that highlight the risk factors for heart disease. These include messages to promote a healthy, balanced diet, becoming more physically active, moderating alcohol intake and highlighting the dangers of smoking and second hand smoke.
	The Department produces a family of free consumer magazines, which give health messages and regularly feature articles that communicate the risk factors for heart disease and promote a healthier lifestyle. It has also supported the production of a toolkit for health professionals to develop a strategy to reduce hypertension. The Food Standards Agency has also launched a high profile consumer awareness campaign to bring the 6 gram per day target on salt consumption to people's attention.

Dentistry

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there were in Beverley and Holderness in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.

Rosie Winterton: The information is set out in the table.
	
		General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS), number of dentists in Beverley and Holderness parliamentary constituency as at 30 September each year
		
			  Beverley and Holderness 
		
		
			 1997 24 
			 1998 27 
			 1999 33 
			 2000 33 
			 2001 32 
			 2002 34 
			 2003 30 
			 2004 30 
			 2005 31 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data includes all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 19 October 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, e.g. data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS.
	2. Dentists include principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded from the data.
	3. The postcode of the Dental Practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. Constituency areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics All Fields Postcode Directory.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Dentistry

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) the East of England, (b) Suffolk and (c) the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds are registering NHS patients; and how many were so doing in each case in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The number of national health service dentists with an open general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract are in the following table.
	
		Number of GDS and PDS dentists in the specified geographic areas as at 30 September each year
		
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 East of England Government Office  Region 2,159 2,141 2,179 2,261 2,459 
			 Suffolk County 255 265 268 272 279 
			 Bury St. Edmunds constituency 50 57 62 63 67 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data includes all notifications, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 19 October 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, e.g. data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS.
	2. Dentists include principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded from the data.
	3. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. County and constituency areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics All Fields Postcode Directory. The Government office region has been defined by summing the totals for Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire and Essex strategic health authority areas.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board.

Dentistry

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been registered with an NHS dentist in Lancashire in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information given for the Cumbria and Lancashire strategic health authority area and its primary care trusts is set out as follows:
	
		Residents in the Cumbria and Lancashire strategic health authority registered with an NHS dentist as at September each year Number
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004(125) 2005(125) 
		
		
			 Cumbria and Lancashire SHA 1,056,559 954,656 971,111 979,663 950,697 947,978 941,747 941,438 925,864 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 82,825 72,283 75,695 75,662 74,674 75,093 73,379 69,688 62,463 
			 Blackpool 86,093 74,874 78,450 78,200 78,750 76,943 74,241 73,009 72,360 
			 Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale 142,493 127,786 126,366 122,466 96,813 94,043 96,361 104,778 100,415 
			 Carlisle and District 64,518 64,767 62,087 63,454 66,335 63,990 62,779 64,468 63,679 
			 Chorley and South Ribble 94,090 86,767 89,759 92,145 94,928 98,421 96,486 104,012 105,018 
			 Eden Valley 35,055 30,451 29,179 27,879 27,936 26,775 29,663 24,622 26,011 
			 Fylde 46,788 42,388 43,679 43,904 41,959 42,763 43,122 52,001 52,168 
			 Hyndburn and Ribble Valley 63,409 54,942 56,097 54,772 54,018 51,917 53,110 46,901 35,388 
			 Morecambe Bay 169,887 153,164 156,103 161,534 159,572 159,007 155,009 147,428 148,160 
			 Preston 82,426 75,437 73,610 72,016 65,752 66,163 66,709 68,147 72,572 
			 West Cumbria 67,517 63,323 69,727 72,794 72,532 73,930 70,538 63,095 64,924 
			 West Lancashire 55,526 48,306 49,393 51,708 50,313 52,575 53,608 55,231 60,640 
			 Wyre 65,932 60,168 60,966 63,129 67,115 66,358 66,742 68,058 62,066 
		
	
	(125) 2004 and 2005 data includes GDS and PDS registrations/PDS patients seen (counts patients seen in the past 15 months for some PDS schemes).
	Notes:
	1. Data for 2003 and earlier comprise GDS and PDS registrations. They do not include those PDS schemes that do not have any registrations (e.g. Dental Access Centres), and is therefore not directly comparable with 2004 and 2005 data.
	2. Prison contracts have been excluded.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board.

Departmental Estate

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) building and (b) refurbishment projects are planned by her Department in (i) 200506 and (ii) 200607; and what the expected costs are of each project.

Jane Kennedy: No building projects are planned in either 200506 and 200607. The following refurbishment projects are planned or have been completed during the years in question:
	
		
			 Building Cost () (excluding valued added tax) 
		
		
			 Quarry House, Leeds 2,361,776 
			 Wellington House, London, SE1 2,572,000 
			 New Kings Beam House, London, SE1 3,015,000 
			 Richmond House, Whitehall 964,500 
			 Skipton House, London, SE1 530,000

Elderly Care

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by the NHS on (a) medicines, (b) community health services and (c) outpatient services for elderly mentally impaired patients in (i) 1997 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 15 December 2005.
	The information requested is shown in the following table. The latest year for which data is available is 200304.
	
		
			million 
			  199798 200304 
		
		
			 Medicines 5,173 9,272 
			 Community health services 3,612 6,197 
			 Mental health out-patients for elderly  (65 plus) 107 328 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Medicines figures are NET expenditure and includes family health service (FHS) drugs and hospital and community health service (HCHS) drugs.
	2. The medicines figure for 199798 is in cash terms, in comparison the 200304 figure is based on resource terms.

Elderly Care

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) acute and (b) long stay (i) NHS and (ii) private and voluntary sector beds for elderly mentally impaired people there were in England (A) in 1997 and (B) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 15 December 2005
	The information requested is shown in the following table. This covers the number of hospital beds and places in residential and nursing care homes for elderly people with mental illness in England for 199697 and 200304 1 . However, data on private hospitals and clinics is not available in a comparable form, due to service definitional issues. Data on places in care homes from 200203 is not comparable to data for earlier years.
	1 Data is not available in a comparable form, due to service definitional issues.
	
		Beds in NHS facilities:
		
			  199697 200304 
		
		
			 Average daily number of available beds 38,780 34,440 
			 Elderly: short stay 7,370 7,510 
			 Elderly: long stay 8,230 4,610 
		
	
	
		Beds in private facilities(126):
		
			  199697 200304(127) 
		
		
			 Number of available beds 28,510 (128) 
			 Elderly: any length of stay 21,450 (128) 
		
	
	
		Places in staffed residential homes for elderly mentally infirm(126):
		
			  199697 200304(127) 
		
		
			 Local authority 3,190 (128) 
			 Voluntary 2,280 (128) 
			 Private 13,800 (128) 
		
	
	(126) Count of beds/places at 31 March.
	(127) Data is not available in a comparable form, due to service definitional issues.
	(128) Denotes not available.
	Note:
	Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	Sources:
	K036, RAC5, RAC5(S), RAU1, KH03, RHN (A) and RA (Form A), Department of Health

Health Bill

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the number of public houses in Gravesham constituency likely to be exempt from a smoking ban under the provisions of the Health Bill;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the likely impact of the Health Bill on health inequalities within Gravesham constituency.

Caroline Flint: The Health Bill has not been assessed on the basis of its likely impact on the constituency of Gravesham. No estimate has been made of the number of public houses in Gravesham in this context.
	A partial regulatory impact assessment for the Health Bill has been published and is available in the Library.

Health Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Leader of the House's statement of 17 November 2005, Official Report, column 1118, on health services, (a) what the cost is of the 168 more NHS consultants and (b) what proportion of the staff to which she refers work part-time.

Liam Byrne: Information as to the annual cost of the additional national health service consultants is not held centrally. However, the information in the table shows the number of Hospital and Community Health Services consultants for each year since 1997 in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority.
	
		HCHS consultants within Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority; 1997June 2005 Number (headcount)
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 All consultants 477 499 511 524 575 593 
			 of which:   
			 Full-time 422 436 444 460 498 500 
			 Part-time 55 63 67 64 77 93 
		
	
	
		
			 Increase 
			  2003 2004 June 2005 19972004 1997 June 2005 
		
		
			 All consultants 601 645 678 168 201 
			 of which:  
			 Full-time 506 548 577 126 155 
			 Part-time 95 97 101 42 46 
		
	
	Note:
	Data as at 30 September 19972004 and 30 June 2005
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce Census

Hospitals (West Sussex)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost per patient treated at (a) foundation hospitals and (b) hospitals in West Sussex was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: There are no data collected centrally at individual patient level. However, data are collected on a finished consultant episode (FCE) basis. An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. The latest cost data available is for 200304.
	It is not possible to assess the average cost per FCE for foundation trusts, as they did not become operational until 200405 and cost data for that year are not yet available.
	In 200304, the average cost per FCE for hospitals in West Sussex, was as follows:
	
		
			   
			  Average cost per FCE 
		
		
			 Royal West Sussex National Health Service Trust 1,164 
			 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 1,482 
			 Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust 1,006 
		
	
	Source:
	Reference costs 200304. Admitted patient caretrusts' own data.

Mobile Phone Masts

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will commission an independent study of epidemiology in relation to mobile telephone masts and their possible impacts on health; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if the Government will carry out epidemiological research into cancer clusters around mobile phone masts that have been in place for 10 years or more; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The independently managed mobile telecommunications and health research (MTHR) programme, jointly funded by Government and industry, has supported about 30 individual studies to investigate the potential health effects of radiofrequency (RF) exposures from mobile phone technology. The programme has commissioned a study of cancer incidence in pre-school children living near mobile phone base stations compared with those living further away. Infants and young children are more likely to be home-based and this is the reason why the MTHR childhood cancer study has, to date, been the only scientifically viable option for epidemiology around base stations. Studies of older children and adults have not been recommended because proximity to base stations has been shown to be a poor representation of exposure to RF fields. The MTHR studies concentrate largely on the exposures from the mobile phone handsets because these exposures are considerably higher than those from base stations. A description of the programme and the individual studies can be found on its web site www.mthr.org.uk.
	The report entitled Mobile Phones and Health 2004 published by the National Radiological Protection Board (now the Radiation Protection Division of the Health Protection Agency, HPA) noted that there are continuing concerns about the impact of base stations on health and well-being
	despite the current evidence which shows that exposures of individuals are likely to be only a small fraction of those from phones.
	This report is published as Documents of the NRPB, Vol 15, No 5 and can be found on the HPA's website at: www.hpa.org.uk/radiation. The report recommended
	studies focused on ascertaining the exposure of people to RF fields.
	In line with this recommendation, the MTHR programme has supported an assessment of a prototype RF exposure meter for the possible use in future epidemiological studies in relation to base stations.

Neurology

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full time equivalent medical staff there were within neurological specialty practising in the NHS in each year since 2001; and how many were (a) consultants, (b) registrars and (c) senior house officers.

Liam Byrne: The requested information is shown in the following table.
	
		Hospital, public health medicine and community health services: Medical staff within the neurology and neurosurgery specialties by specified gradeEngland(129)  -- Full time equivalents
		
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Neurology 624 631 702 774 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 298 309 355 403 
			 Registrar group 147 152 166 183 
			 Senior house officer 119 119 144 150 
			 Other staff 60 51 37 38 
			  
			 Neurosurgery 405 455 471 518 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 141 153 157 171 
			 Registrar group 131 147 162 185 
			 Senior house officer 115 130 140 152 
			 Other staff 18 25 12 10 
		
	
	(129) 2001 to 2004, data as at 30 September.
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre medical and dental workforce census

NHS Commissioning

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps she plans to take to consult local communities and other stakeholders about proposals to outsource the commissioning function of primary care trusts;
	(2)  whether as part of her plans for a patient-led NHS local authorities will be able to bid to discharge the commissioning function of primary care trusts.

Liam Byrne: As part of the proposals for primary care trust (PCT) reconfiguration, one strategic health authority (SHA) has proposed to procure an external management team to run one of their newly proposed PCTs. However, this proposal will not be considered during the forthcoming local consultation as it is for the new PCTs, not the current SHAs, to decide how best to manage their responsibilities after reconfiguration.

Nurses

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time taken to process NHS nurses' bursary applications was in (a) 200405 and (b) 200506 to date; and if she will make a statement.

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many students have applied for bursaries for nursing courses which started in September; and to date how many applications have not been processed.

Liam Byrne: The following information has been provided by the NHS Pensions Agency who are responsible for the student grants unit.
	The average waiting time for nurses' national health service bursary payments in 200405 was five days from the start of the course. Bursary payments in academic year 200405 were made on receipt of a provisional list of students who were expected to enrol at the university. Payment was made by cheque, which was sent to the university for collection by the student.
	The average waiting time for nurses' NHS bursary payments in 200506 is 11 days from the course start date. Bursary payments in academic year 200506 are made on receipt of confirmation of enrolment from the university and by the banks automated clearing system payment into students' bank account.
	There could be several reasons for delayed payment:
	internal handling by the NHS Student Grants Unit;
	the university has not advised the unit that the student has actually started the course;
	Universities are required to notify the student grants unit within five working days of the student starting the course. The unit aims to pay students within 10 working days of the start of the course;
	there is a query with the student regarding their application form;
	late application by submitted by the student.
	11,941 students have applied for bursaries for nursing courses which started in September 2005, all of which have now been processed.

Obesity

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were suffering with obesity in (a) Southend, (b) Essex, (c) Hertfordshire, (d) Greater London and (e) England in (i) 1994 and (ii) 2004.

Caroline Flint: The data are not available in the exact format requested. We are unable to supply the data for Southend, Essex, Hertfordshire and Greater London. Data is available by Government office region (GOR) for 200102 and we have provided the areas that most closely match those requested; London GOR (for Greater London) and the East of England GOR (for Southend, Essex and Hertfordshire).
	The 2003 data are the most recent available. Comparable data for 1994 are not available; therefore, we have provided 1995 data. The information requested is in the following table, using the estimated obesity prevalence results of the Health Survey for England (HSE) for 2002 and 2003.
	
		Prevalence of obesity among children aged 2 to 10 (with a valid BMI), by gender, England, 1995 and 2003
		
			  1995 2003 
		
		
			 Male   
			 Percentage 9.6 14.9 
			 Bases (weighted) 1,261 876 
			 Bases (unweighted) 1,113 864 
			
			 Female   
			 Percentage 10.3 12.5 
			 Bases (weighted) 1,266 897 
			 Bases (unweighted) 1,114 869

Ophthalmic Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total expenditure on general ophthalmic services has been in each year since 199798.

Rosie Winterton: Total expenditure on general ophthalmic services in England from 199798 to 200405 is shown in the table.
	
		Expenditure on General Ophthalmic Service: England  million(132)
		
			  Gross resource expenditure 
		
		
			 199798 243.1 
			 199899 242.2 
			 19992000 286.0 
			 200001 289.9 
			 200102 302.3 
			 200203(133) 303.9 
			 200304 321.6 
			 200405 340.0 
		
	
	(132) Expenditure is on an accruals basis.
	(133) The consistency of data may have been affected by the changeover in accounting responsibilities from strategic health authorities to primary care trusts from 1 October 2002.

Podiatrists

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of podiatrists in (a) England and (b) Weston-Super-Mare;
	(2)  how many podiatrists per 100 people there are in (a) England and (b) Weston-super-Mare.

Liam Byrne: Information on the number of podiatrists per 100,000 population in England and Avon Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority is shown in the table.
	Information is not available specifically for the Western-Super-Mare area.
	
		National health service hospital and community health services: qualified chiropody/podiatry staff in England and each specified strategic health authority (SHA) area and organisation per 100,000 population as at 30 September 2004(134) Headcount
		
			  Per 100,000 population 
		
		
			 England 7.9 
			 of which  
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA area 5.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Population figures are as at June each year. England and SHA figures are for 2004, the latest available PCT figures are at 2003. Staff in post figures are at 30 September 2004.
	Sources:
	Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census
	Office for National Statistics Population Census
	A range of workforce supply initiatives are in place to ensure the NHS workforce continues to meet service needs. These include: improving pay and conditions; encouraging the NHS to become a better, more flexible and diverse employer; increasing training; investing in child care and continuing professional development; attracting back returners and running national and international recruitment campaigns.
	It is the responsibility of primary care trusts and SHAs to analyse their local situation and assess the needs of the local population and to secure services to meet those needs including podiatry services.

Primary Care Trusts

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why Mr. John Bacon's letter of 30 November 2005 to Pearse Butler of the Cumbria and Lancashire strategic health authority does not refer to Pendle in the latest proposals for primary care trust reconfiguration.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 6 December 2005
	The letter from John Bacon to Pearse Butler of Cumbria and Lancashire strategic health authority omitted reference to Pendle in error. The option to consult on six primary care trusts (PCTs) should read as follows:
	Option 36 PCTs; Blackpool PCT, Blackburn with Darwen PCT, Cumbria PCT, Lancaster, Fylde and Wyre PCT, Burnley, Rossendale, Pendle, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley PCT and West Lancashire, South Ribble, Chorley and Preston PCT.

Primary Care Trusts

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons she is seeking to restructure primary care trusts; and what estimate she has made of the costs of restructuring.

Liam Byrne: The reasons for reconfiguration are set out in Commissioning a Patient Led NHS, published 28 July 2005 and the written ministerial statement by the Secretary of State of 27 October 2005, Official Report, column 15WS.
	Since proposals on restructuring are subject to local consultation, at this stage we have not made an estimate of the costs.

Primary Care Trusts

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what allocation of funding was made to each Essex primary care trust at the start of the current financial year; what the projected outturn is in each case; and how deficits will be funded.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 8 December 2005
	The information requested is provided in the tables. Table 1 shows the revenue allocations made to primary care trusts (PCTs) in Essex for 200506 as part of the 200304 to 200506 revenue allocations. Table 2 shows the 200506 Month 6 (unaudited) forecast of PCTs in Essex.
	Strategic health authorities (SHAs) are responsible for delivering overall financial balance for their local health economy. If the SHA as a whole overspends, it requires underspending elsewhere to allow the Department to live within its overall spending limit.
	
		Table 1
		
			000 
			  Allocation 
			 PCT 200304 200405 200506 
		
		
			 Basildon 92,468 102,530 114,813 
			 Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford 110,867 120,876 131,581 
			 Castle Point and Rochford 130,401 143,260 157,017 
			 Chelmsford 95,614 104,247 113,482 
			 Colchester 125,696 138,152 151,451 
			 Epping Forest 92,149 100,471 109,463 
			 Harlow 76,440 83,343 90,727 
			 Maldon and South Chelmsford 58,828 64,507 70,647 
			 Southend on Sea 153,413 167,594 182,986 
			 Tendring 128,228 143,975 161,452 
			 Thurrock 117,395 129,330 144,805 
			 Uttlesford 52,071 56,772 61,798 
			 Witham, Braintree and Halstead Care  Trust 100,623 110,770 122,397 
		
	
	
		Table 2
		
			 Organisation name 200506 Month 6 Forecast Outturn (000) 
		
		
			 Basildon PCT 706 
			 Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT 2,633 
			 Castle Point and Rochford PCT 1,600 
			 Chelmsford PCT (11,202) 
			 Colchester PCT 637 
			 Epping Forest PCT 600 
			 Harlow PCT (769) 
			 Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT (3,196) 
			 Southend on Sea PCT 2,562 
			 Tendring PCT 1,400 
			 Thurrock PCT 860 
			 Uttlesford PCT (1,164) 
			 Witham, Braintree and Halstead Care PCT (5,418)

Smoking/Alcohol

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what diseases and conditions are associated with (a) smoking and (b) passive smoking; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will list the studies undertaken by her Department which demonstrate the diseases and conditions caused by (a) smoking and (b) passive smoking; and if she will place such studies in the Library.

Caroline Flint: The White Paper Smoking Kills sets out in Chapter 1 some of the major fatal diseases and conditions caused by smoking and passive smoking. For each disease and cause of death quoted there is a reference to relevant studies and/or source documents.
	The 1998 Report of the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health (SCOTH) provided fuller information on fatal and other disease caused by smoking and second hand smoke.
	The 2004 Report by SCOTH states that new evidence reinforces and strengthens the conclusion in the 1998 report that second hand smoke is a substantial public health hazard. Copies of these documents are available in the Library.

Smoking/Alcohol

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to discourage the consumption of alcohol by pregnant women; and what progress has been made.

Caroline Flint: The Department's advice can be found in the leaflet Drinking for Two? and in the Pregnancy Book, copies of which have been placed in the Library, and also on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocial CareTopics/AlcoholMisuse/AlcoholMisuseGeneral Information/AlcoholMisuseGeneralArticle/fs/en? CONTENT_ID=4062199chk=J782BY The advice says women who may be pregnant should not drink more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week and should avoid being intoxicated. This guidance is based on advice form medical experts to the sensible drinking working group who reviewed a range of studies and found little evidence of harm when such low levels of alcohol are consumed.
	Information is also available from the charity Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Aware UK.
	However, we know that some people have raised concerns that consuming any alcohol during pregnancy is unsafe. It is vital that public health messages are based on sound evidence and retain the credibility and confidence of health professionals.
	That is why we have commissioned a research scoping exercise on the effects of alcohol on the developing foetus. This will look at existing and new evidence of the effects of very low levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy on the developing embryo, foetus and child. The report is due in the new year.

Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust is required to pay interest on the money it has borrowed.

Liam Byrne: There is a well established carry-forward regime in the national health service, whereby over spends in one year are repaid in the following year. The strategic health authority (SHA) surplus incentive scheme includes an uplift to the amount that organisations must repay if they overspend in 200506.
	The aim of the scheme is to support good financial management. The scheme is being managed by the NHS Bank. Arrangements with trusts or primary care trusts are for individual SHAs to manage.

Tuberculosis

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reported cases of tuberculosis there were in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) England in each of the last 10 years.

Caroline Flint: Tuberculosis notification numbers for Northamptonshire and from England from 1994 to 2004 are shown in the table.
	
		Tuberculosis infections, Northamptonshire and England:1994 to 2004 Number
		
			  Northamptonshire England 
		
		
			 1994 47 5,410 
			 1995 57 5,428 
			 1996 43 5,493 
			 1997 58 5,664 
			 1998 66 5,915 
			 1999 77 5,939 
			 2000 66 6,379 
			 2001 70 6,571 
			 2002 84 6,628 
			 2003 70 6,383 
			 2004 80 6,544 
		
	
	Note:
	Data as at 2 December 2005.
	Source:
	Statutory Notifications of Infectious Diseases (NOIDs), Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections.
	The tuberculosis notification rates (per 100,000 population) for Northamptonshire remained similar to the overall rate for England during this 10-year period.

Turnaround Teams

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) terms of reference, (b) powers and (c) expected costs are of the turnaround teams she is sending into Southport and Ormskirk Hospital.

Liam Byrne: Following the initial assessment the teams will agree a tailored package of turnaround support with each organisation and the strategic health authority. The teams will then support the chief executives of the organisations in delivering turnaround. The type and length of engagement will be tailored to the needs of specific organisations. The chief executives will remain responsible for delivery in their organisations.
	The initial assessment was awarded in accordance with departmental tendering arrangements. The amount of the contract is to be treated as commercial in confidence.
	The cost of the turnaround support will be dependant on the type of engagement.

Velcade

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will list the criteria according to which a district prescribing committee in England can overrule the recommendation of a consultant haematologist that Velcade should be prescribed to a patient suffering from multiple myeloma;
	(2)  what advice she has received about the use of Velcade as a treatment for multiple myeloma in comparison with other possible treatments for that condition;
	(3)  what discretion is available to consultant haematologists in England (a) to arrange bone marrow transplants and (b) to prescribe Velcade to treat multiple myeloma without reference to a (i) district prescribing committee and (ii) any other body;
	(4)  what account her Department took of the procedures in place in other parts of the UK for prescribing Velcade to treat multiple myeloma before deciding that district prescribing committees in England could overrule the recommendations of consultant haematologists that it should be prescribed in individual cases;
	(5)  what assessment she has made of the comparative (a) cost and (b) effectiveness in treating multiple myeloma of (i) a course of Velcade authorised by a district prescribing committee and (ii) a bone marrow transplant authorised by a consultant haematologist.

Jane Kennedy: holding answers 8 December 2005
	Velcade is licensed for the treatment of adults with cancer of the bone marrow (multiple myeloma) who have received at least one prior treatment and whose disease is worsening on their last treatment.
	Velcade has been referred to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for appraisal. Velcade is one of the first five drugs to be appraised under NICE'S new single topic appraisal process announced by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health (Ms Hewitt) on 3 November 2005. Guidance resulting from the new process is expected as early as mid 2006.
	In the interim, there are no national restrictions on or guidelines for prescribing Velcade on the national health service for patients who fit the licensed indication.
	How best to treat patients with multiple myeloma will be a matter for local decision. The mechanisms used for making such decisions are also be local arrangement.
	Funding for licensed treatments should not be withheld because guidance from NICE is unavailable. In these circumstances, we expect primary care trusts to take full account of available evidence when reaching funding decisions. This is confirmed in Health Service Circular 1999/176, which asks NHS bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from NICE is not available at the time the treatment or technology first became available.
	No assessment has yet been made of the comparative cost and effectiveness of Velcade and bone marrow transplants in treating multiple myeloma. NICE may look at this as part of the appraisal process.

Warrington Primary Care Trust

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what briefings have been given to members of Warrington primary care trust on possible changes to acute services in the area; and what options have been considered during those briefings.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 15 December 2005
	The responsibility for briefing members of the Warrington primary care trust on any possible changes to acute services in the area resides with the local national health service.

Your Health, Your Care, Your Say

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she issued to strategic health authorities for the conduct of the Your Health, Your Care, Your Say consultation exercise; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Department wrote to chief executives of strategic health authorities (SHAs) on 23 August 2005 inviting a nominated contact who could co-ordinate activity across their area in partnership with local authority colleagues. The Department and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister jointly wrote to a range of stakeholder organisations, including the chief executives of SHAs on 8 September 2005 giving details of a website which provided guidance on running local events and about the importance of working with local partners. Nominated contacts in SHAs were also copied into a letter to stakeholders dated 27 September 2005 encouraging the organisation of local events for staff and service users.
	A resource pack website was set up to support those organisations running or facilitating local deliberative consultation events. SHA nominated contacts were invited to a briefing event on the website's use and the consultation process in general on 8 September 2005.
	Copies of all three letters have been placed in the Library.